Sixty feared dead as Russia bombs school

A monument depicting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called ‘Shoot yourself’ by Ukrainian sculptor Dmytro Iv. set in the centre of Kyiv. An inscription on it reads “Putler, did you understand the hint?”. Pics/AFP

As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday. Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.

"The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found," Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Bono, Irish singer-activist, and lead vocalist of rock band U2, performs at a subway station which is a bomb shelter in Kyiv, on Sunday

Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings."

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies. In the ruined port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

A museum employee touches the sculpture of Ukrainian philosopher Hryhorri Skovoroda, removed from the destroyed Hryhoriy Skovoroda National Literary Memorial Museum in the village of Skovorodynivka, in Kharkiv on Saturday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks.

Zelensky said on Sunday evil has returned to Ukraine as he gave an emotional address for Victory Day, when Europe commemorates formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two. The life that soldiers fought for in that war came to an end on Feb. 24 when Russia invaded, he said in a video message. "The evil has returned. Again!" Zelensky said. "In a different form, under different slogans, but for the same purpose." But he said Ukraine and its allies will win. "No evil can escape responsibility, it cannot hide in a bunker," he added. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler spent the last days of his life in a bunker in Berlin where he committed suicide.

An employee collects surviving books from the museum in the 17th century manor house where Skovoroda lived, that was destroyed after a Russian missile hit. Pics/AFP

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

Jill Biden in Ukraine

US first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced visit to Uzhhorod in Ukraine on Sunday and met first lady Olena Zelenska. Biden met Ukraine's first lady Zelenska at a converted school that now serves as temporary housing for displaced citizens.

300
No. of civilians rescued from the Azovstal steelworks

Ukrainian fighters vow not to surrender

Evacuation efforts will focus on getting the wounded and medics out of the bombed-out Azovstal steelworks after all women, children and elderly trapped in the plant were rescued, said Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian resistance fighters in the plant have vowed not to surrender and Russian forces are seeking to declare a victory in time for Monday's Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, which commemorate when the Soviet Union triumphed over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

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