NU.nl regularly gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: Ukraine warns civilians in the Kherson region to leave the area because of a counterattack. At least 15 people have been killed in a bombing of an apartment building in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk is calling on all residents of the Russian-occupied Kherson province to leave immediately. The Ukrainian army plans to launch a counter-attack in the area, the deputy prime minister said on national television.
According to Vereshcuck, it is certain that there will be fighting in the area, and that bombings will also be carried out. “We therefore call on people to evacuate immediately.”
This is not the first time Ukraine has said it will launch a counter-attack in the region. The deputy prime minister did not say when exactly that counterattack should take place.
The Kherson region fell to the Russians in the first weeks of the war. The capital of the same name, Kherson, was the first city to conquer Russia. The country has appointed a board in Kherson. It wants to organize a referendum on possible affiliation with Russia, but it is not yet clear when that will be held.
A woman walks past a Russian soldier in Kherson with her child.
A woman walks past a Russian soldier in Kherson with her child. Photo: AP
Dead and injured in Donetsk . flat bombing
A Russian bombing of a flat in Chasiv Yar, a city in the Donetsk region, has killed at least 15 people. Another 24 others are feared to be still under the rubble.
Images show how the flat was destroyed by the bombing. Rescuers retrieved several bodies from under the rubble. The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff spoke on Telegram of “another terror attack”.
Russia and Ukraine guilty of attack on nursing home
Both Russia and Ukraine are to blame for the attack on a nursing home in the Luhansk region on March 11, researchers from the United Nations human rights agency OHCHR concluded on Saturday.
The attack started a fire, which probably killed dozens of civilians. Ukraine blamed all of this on Russia. But if the Ukrainian military hadn’t holed up in the nursing home in the days before the attack, the building would not have been a target of the Russians, researchers say.
The demand for emergency aid continues to grow every day
The NU.nl Foundation director Tineke Ceelen also saw that the war in Ukraine is still not over. Ceelen sees the demand for emergency aid growing every day, she tells NU.nl.
Because it doesn’t look like the war will end anytime soon, aid organizations must start preparing for long-term aid to the affected Ukrainians. At the same time, the number of people in need of help is also increasing.
In a tour of the front lines, Ceelen saw that many places have turned into ghost towns. There is a shortage of gas, electricity and running water. She also saw how many Ukrainians help each other with this. “All Ukrainians have become volunteers, it seems.”
Russians can no longer visit the Die Welt website
Russian citizens can only partially visit the website of the German newspaper on Sunday Die Welt† The website has been blocked by Russia.
The country has long accused Western media of spreading fake news about the war in Ukraine. Whether that is also the reason for blocking the site is not clear. Russia previously blocked access to the websites of BBC† Voice of America and Deutsche Welle†
Conversely, the European Union also decided to block Russian news organizations because the channels spread untruths about the war.