‘It is hell there’: Ukraine’s Donbas ‘completely destroyed’ by relentless bombardment, Zelensky says

President accuses Moscow of carrying out ‘senseless bombardment’ in east of country

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday launched a bitter diatribe against Russia’s relentless bombardment of the Donbas, saying “it’s like hell there”.

Mr Zelensky accused Moscow of carrying out “brutal” and “senseless” attacks as it intensified its offensive in the country’s east following the withdrawal of its troops from the around the country’s capital, Kyiv.

Allegations of genocide were also repeated by the Ukrainain president, accusing Vladimir Putin’s forces of attempting to kill as many Ukrainians and do as much damage as possible.

He said that while Ukrainian forces were continuing to liberate the Kharkiv region to the east of Kyiv, Russia was trying to exert even more pressure in the Donbas, which lies in the southeastern part of Ukraine.

Smoke raises from an oil refinery in Lysychansk about 120km north of Donetsk (AFP via Getty Images)

An aerial view shows a crater and destroyed homes in the village of Yatskivka, eastern Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

In his nightly video address on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said: “It is hell there - and that is not an exaggeration,” adding that 12 people had been killed in the “brutal and absolutely senseless bombardment” of Severodonetsk on Thursday.

“(There are) constant strikes on the Odesa region, on the cities of central Ukraine. The Donbas is completely destroyed,” he continued.

“This is a deliberate and criminal attempt to kill as many Ukrainians as possible, to destroy as many houses, social facilities and enterprises as possible.”

Alongside the dozen fatalities suffered in Severodonetsk, a further 40 were injured as a result of Russian shelling, according to a local official.

The Luhansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said on social media that there were “12 dead and more than 40 injured in Severodonetsk”. He accused Russian forces of “randomly” targeting the city with heavy weaponry.

An unexploded ordnance is seen at a backdoor of a kindergarten where seven people have been sheltering in the basement for more than two months, in Lysychansk, eastern Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

A serviceman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) walks at the damaged war memorial complex Savur-Mohyla (REUTERS)

The attacks had begun early on Thursday and were continuing into the evening, he said.

Mr Gaiday wrote: “Information about the number of dead and injured is still being determined because it is impossible to examine the territory under shelling.”

He also urged people to take shelter should they decide not to leave.

Mr Gaiday said that earlier this week there had been protests in Russian-occupied parts of Luhansk by families of people forcibly mobilised.

Since turning away from Kyiv, Russia has used its massed artillery and armour to try to capture more territory in the Donbas, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas, which the Kremlin claims on behalf of separatists.

Ukraine’s general staff said in a statement on Thursday that Russia’s attacks were focused on the Donetsk region, but added that Moscow’s forces had“suffered significant losses” around Slovyansk to the north of Donetsk. Related video:

Five civilians were killed in Donetsk on Thursday, according to regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

“The enemy is destroying all civil infrastructure even in places relatively far from the front line,” he told local television.

It follows reports from police who on Telegram today claimed that two children had been killed in the Donetsk city of Lyman in a direct hit on a residential building.

Elsewhere, regional governor Roman Starovoit said Ukrainian forces shelled a border village in Russia’s western region of Kursk at dawn on Thursday, killing at least one civilian.