Russia war continues to leave scars on Ukraine

By Jeyhun Aliyev

KYIV, Ukraine (AA) – As Russia's war on Ukraine entered the 9th day, the crisis continued to leave its scars on the former Soviet country.

The administrations of many cities and regions claimed civilian casualties in Russian forces attacks, although these could not be independently verified due to the curfew and damage to communication and transportation networks.

The following cities and territories have been identified as targets by Russian forces:

- Chernihiv

On Thursday, civilian areas in Chernihiv, Ukraine's northern city, were reportedly targeted.

Russian troops launched a missile strike on a multistory residential area in the city center, the Chernihiv Regional State Administration stated on Facebook.

As a result of the shelling, several apartment buildings were damaged, windows were smashed, walls, roofs, and balconies were destroyed, the statement claimed.

"There are NO military facilities nearby. Nearby are hospitals, several schools and kindergartens, dozens of high-rise buildings," it added.
According to the State Emergency Service, the death toll from an airstrike on a residential area of Chernihiv has risen to at least 22 people, with rescue efforts continuing.

Separately, Russian troops launched a missile strike on a residential area in the city center of Chernihiv, according to Vyacheslav Chaus, the head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration.

According to him, at least nine people were killed and four others injured as a result of the bombing.

Two city schools and private homes were completely destroyed in the Stara Podusivka neighborhood.

- Humanitarian crisis in Mariupol

There is no electricity, water, or heating in the key southeastern Ukrainian port city of the Donetsk region.

"The invaders damaged critical infrastructure. Mariupol remains under Ukrainian control, but enemy shelling continues," Mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boychenko blamed on Wednesday in a Telegram channel of the Mariupol City Council.

"Today was the hardest and most brutal day of all seven days of the war. Today they wanted to destroy us," Boychenko made the allegation.

More than a hundred civilians were injured as a result of the bombardment of Mariupol, he claimed, adding that 138 people had been injured since the start of Russia's assault against Ukraine, many of them children.

"The maternity hospital and dozens of houses were severely damaged. A school and a dormitory for migrants were destroyed," the Mariupol City Council claimed in a statement.

"The Russians staged a real bloody terror. Mariupol will not forget and will not forgive! (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's fascists must be stopped," he hurled the indictment.

- Kharkiv

Late Wednesday, Russian troops reportedly shelled the eastern city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region.

The Russian forces unleashed massive airstrikes on Izyum, according to Vladimir Matsokin, the city's deputy mayor.

At least nine people, including two children, were killed, he claimed.

He added that the Russian army launched an attack at midnight, with the majority of missiles landing in residential parts of the city.

According to him, the bombardment damaged a multistory building and a private estate, while the center of Izyum was destroyed, along with the building of school No. 4.

- Air raid on village in Kharkiv region

Around midnight, the Russian forces carried out an air raid on Yakovlivka village in the Kharkiv region.

According to Veniamin Sitov, head of the Merefa community in eastern Ukraine, four civilians were killed, 11 injured, and 11 evacuated as a result of the strike.

There are no military facilities or major infrastructure in Yakivlivka, he asserted, adding that there were two stores, a school, a kindergarten, a club, and a dispensary.

The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office claimed that the bombing battered the entire village, damaging 45 houses and entirely destroying 21 of them.

- Shelling of resort town

Russian forces fired rockets towards the Ukrainian resort town of Zatoka in the Odessa region on Thursday, the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the region stated in a Facebook post.

There were no casualties due to the shelling.

It added that several portions of the town and civil places were damaged.