The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday confirmed that 70 of its soldiers had been killed in a Russian missile attack in the region of Sumy in eastern Ukraine.
It said on Twitter that an army unit was fired upon in the town of Okhtyrka, located between the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Russian forces are currently fighting to take control of both those cities, along with other key territories across the country.
The deaths in Okhtyrka were announced by Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of Sumy’s regional administration, who shared pictures on his Telegram channel of a burnt-out four-story building and rescue workers in action.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its sixth day, concerns were growing about the number of civilian casualties in the conflict, including in Kharkiv, which had come under intense attack in recent days.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry published a video on Twitter on Tuesday, showing a missile attack that struck Freedom Square in central Kharkiv.
“Russia is waging war in violation of international humanitarian law.
“Kills civilians, destroys civilian infrastructure,” the ministry wrote.
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