Live blog: Fresh Russian strikes hit 'several areas' in Ukraine

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Renewed Russian attacks strike several areas of Ukraine

Russia has stepped up its onslaught against Ukraine, with civilian casualties reported in several areas of the country. 

At least three civilians were killed and three more were injured in a Russian rocket strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chuhuiv in the early hours, a regional police chief said on Saturday.

Serhiy Bolvinov, the deputy head of Kharkiv’s regional police force, said that the rockets were likely fired from Russian territory. Chuhuiv lies some 120 kilometres from the border.

Russia says it destroyed Ukrainian factory producing missile parts

Russian armed forces destroyed a factory in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that produced parts for Tochka-U ballistic missiles, the Russian defence ministry has said in a statement.

Russian forces have also shot down three Ukrainian airplanes and two helicopters, the ministry said on Saturday.

US: Russia been to Iran twice in last month to assess drones

Russian officials have recently visited Iran twice to assess combat drones, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said, as Moscow looks to bolster its arsenal for its offensive in Ukraine.

Iran's military hosted two showcases for Russian delegations at the Kashan airfield, on June 8 and again on July 5, Sullivan said in a statement on Saturday.

Satellite imagery released by the White House shows Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones at or flying near the site.

Russia orders "units in all areas" to step up Ukraine operations

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered Russian military units operating in all areas of Ukraine to step up their operations in order to prevent strikes on eastern Ukraine and other territories controlled by Russia, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It said Shoigu "gave the necessary instructions to further increase the actions of groups in all operational areas in order to exclude the possibility of the Kiev regime launching massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in Donbass and other regions". 

Two people killed in Russian shelling of Ukrainian town of Nikopol 

Two people were killed in Nikopol when heavy Russian shelling hit the southern Ukrainian town, the emergency services and regional governor said.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of two people in the rubble, the emergency services said. 

The regional governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko, said that Russia fired 53 Grad rockets at the town. 

US: Russian officials visited Iran to view drones

The White House says Russian officials have visited an airfield in central Iran at least twice in recent weeks to view weapons-capable drones it is looking to acquire for use in its ongoing offensive in Ukraine.

Iran showcased the drones for Russian officials at Kashan Airfield on June 8 and July 15, according to the White House. 

The administration also released satellite imagery of Shahed-191 and Shahed-129 drones being displayed and in flight on the airfield, while a Russian delegation transport plane was on the ground. 

Russian strike kills three people in Kharkiv region

A Russian missile strike hit the northeast Ukrainian town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region overnight, killing three people including a woman aged 70, and wounding three more, the regional governor said. 

The strike damaged a two-storey residential building, a school and a shop, and rescuers were going through the rubble, Governor Oleh Synehubov and the police said.

A regional police official said Russia fired four missiles at the town from near its western city of Belgorod at around 0330 local time. 

Russia shelling from Europe's largest nuclear plant

Russia is using Europe's largest nuclear power plant as a base to store weapons including "missile systems" and shell the surrounding areas of Ukraine, an official with Kiev's nuclear agency has said. 

Located on the Dnipro river in southeastern Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been under Russian control since the early weeks of Moscow's offensive, though it is still being operated by Ukrainian staff. 

The president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said earlier in a televised interview that the situation was "extremely tense", with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the site. 

US official dismisses Russia claim of military target in Vinnytsia

A US official dismissed Russia's claim that it targeted a meeting of the Ukrainian air force in Vinnytsia in an attack that Kiev says killed 23 people including children.

"I have no indication that there was a military target anywhere near that," the senior defence official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"That looked like an apartment building," said the official, who also confirmed that Russia launched the missile strike Thursday from a submarine. 

Russia deploys 'missiles' to Zaporizhzhia plant — nuclear agency

Russia is using Europe's largest nuclear power plant as a base to store weapons including "missile systems" and to shell the surrounding areas of Ukraine, an official with Kiev's nuclear agency has said.

Located on the Dnipro river in southeastern Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been under Russian control since the early weeks of Moscow's incursion, though it is still being operated by Ukrainian staff.

The president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said on Friday in a televised interview that the situation was "extremely tense", with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant.

"The occupiers bring their machinery there, including missile systems, from which they already shell the other side of the river Dnipro and the territory of Nikopol," Pedro Kotin said, referring to the city across the water.

Russian missiles cause casualties in Ukraine's Dnipro — governor

At least three people were killed and 15 injured following a Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, the regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, said.

"The rockets hit an industrial plant and a busy street next to it," Reznichenko said on his Facebook page. 

"We are determining the extent of the destruction."

For live updates from Friday (July 15), click here