PSeveral bombings hit Kramatorsk, a large city controlled by kyiv in eastern Ukraine, in the night from Monday to Tuesday, under the threat of an offensive by Russian troops. According to a journalist from Agence France-Presse, these shots, probably from missiles or long-range rockets, notably destroyed a school in the city center, close to a police building, around 3 a.m. local time.
In the early morning, a smoking crater about ten meters in diameter was visible in the schoolyard, partly collapsed. Many windows were blown around, but local residents reported no casualties as the school was apparently empty. No official report has been communicated.
The anguish of a vast Russian offensive
Since Russia withdrew its troops from the regions of kyiv and the center-north of the country and announced that it wanted to “concentrate its efforts on the liberation of Donbass”, this historic mining basin of Ukraine has been living in fear of an offensive Russian major.
The Ukrainian government has said it expects the situation in this region to worsen as Russian forces try to outflank the Ukrainian army, which has been deployed since 2014 on a front line bordering Donetsk in the south and Lugansk in the east. – capitals of the two pro-Russian separatist “republics” of the same name – and which now extends to Izium, recently conquered in the northwest. De facto regional capital since October 2014 of the territory still under the control of kyiv in this part of the country, Kramatorsk is located in the center of this cauldron and would then find itself surrounded. Thousands of residents have fled the city in recent days for fear of this encirclement. According to the Ukrainian train company, 3,100 people were evacuated on Monday, but trains were interrupted on Tuesday morning due to overnight shelling as the tracks were to be inspected.
