A Few Updates on the Russo-Ukraine War

By Aditi Jha

• Russian shelling wounded at least 22 people and killed seven, including a church pastor, 23-day-old infant, her 12-year-old brother, and their 39-year-old mother. Shelling means firing containers, usually with pointy ends, that are filled with explosives. This took place in Kherson, Ukraine, which was previously occupied by Russia prior to last November, when Ukraine took back part of it. Russia has continued shelling the area. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote, "The terrorists will never willingly stop killing civilians. The terrorists must be stopped. With force. They don't understand anything else." Shelling injured three civilians in Kursk, and eight regions in eastern Ukraine were on high alert after the Ukrainian air force warned of a Russian ballistic missile threat. 

• Russia also boarded a Ukrainian cargo vessel in the Black Sea. Weeks ago, a UN/Turkish brokered deal trying to enforce the safe passage of Ukrainian grain exports had collapsed. Russia said that they stopped the cargo ship to make sure it wasn't carrying "prohibited goods" to Ukraine. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a statement that "Today's deliberate attack and forced inspection by Russia of Sukru Okan international civilian bulk carrier, which was en route to the Ukrainian port of Izmail, is a clear violation of international law of the sea, an act of piracy and a crime against civilian vessels of a third country in the waters of other states." 

• A missile attack on the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine led to the death of 10 people, including a rescue worker. The State Emergency Post said that he was "seriously wounded during the repeated shelling" and died early Sunday morning. They described him as "an outgoing person, a brave and humane leader, a true professional in his field, who devoted a significant part of his life to the service and put his soul into it." Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, missile strikes have killed at least 78 rescue workers and wounded 280. 

• Russian shelling in Kharkhiv has gotten stronger and Ukraine is trying to evacuate thousands of people. Around 12 thousand people need to leave the city, including over 600 children. 111 people have been evacuated from the area over the last 24 hours, including 36 children. Since evacuation orders on August 9th, 204 people have been relocated, including 71 children.