KIEV (AP/Reuters) – Russian rockets hit the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, destroying a five-story apartment building and killing at least 15 people, the region’s governor said Sunday.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble. Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems. Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they grind westward.
The Donetsk region is one of two provinces along with Luhansk that make up the Donbas region. Last week, Russia captured the city of Lysychansk, the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk.
Ukraine has been the subject of the Russian military operation since February 24, with Moscow saying that the operation is aimed at “demilitarizing” the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.
In another development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Kiev’s ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.
“Today, I signed decrees on the dismissal of some ambassadors of Ukraine. This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice,” Zelensky said in an address to the nation on Saturday, without elaborating.
He also said that new ambassadors “are being prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Andriy Melnyk, who had been serving as ambassador in Berlin for almost eight years and is well known among politicians and diplomats in Germany, is one of the envoys dismissed.
He has openly criticized the government in Berlin for the slow pace of weapon deliveries to Ukraine during the first months of the war and strongly urged Olaf Scholz’s administration to do more.
Ukraine is currently at odds with Germany over the delayed return of a German-made turbine being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy, in Canada. The turbine is needed for the maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
Berlin wants Ottawa to return the turbine to Russian natural gas giant Gazprom to pump gas to Europe, but Kiev had urged Canada to keep the turbine, saying a return would violate sanctions on Moscow.
Russia has announced that it would increase gas supplies to Europe if the turbine was returned. Russia’s Gazprom cut capacity along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 40% of usual levels last month.