Russia bombs school in Ukraine, 60 people dead and seven injured
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A school in Bilohorivka, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, was bombed by Russia, and 60 people were reported killed in the attack. Governor Serhiy Gaidai said 90 people were sheltering in the building when a bomb was dropped on Saturday afternoon.
The bomb brought down the building and caused a fire that took nearly four hours to extinguish. Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble and seven of them were injured, reported Reuters. "Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings," read the message from the Governor.
Luhansk region has been seeing severe fighting between Russian troops and government forces. Separatist fighters are also attacking the Ukrainian forces as much of the region has been in control of Russia-backed separatists for the past eight years.
A Ukrainian newspaper, Ukrayinska Pravda called Bilohorivka a hot spot as fighting has been intense for the past week. It is close to Severodonetsk, a government-held city that also saw heavy fighting on Saturday.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is "appalled" by the deadly attack and that "civilians must be spared in time of war". Ukraine has accused Russia of targeting civilians in the war. Moscow denies this allegation.
On Sunday for Victory Day, when Europe commemorates the formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said evil returned to the country with the Russian invasion but Ukraine will prevail.
On late Saturday, he had announced over 300 civilians had been evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks, the last hold-out in Mariupol. It has become a symbol of resistance among Ukrainians as Russia has been trying to take complete control of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Russia has besieged the city and has been calling on defenders of the Azov battalion to surrender. Soldiers in a live conference said surrender for us is unacceptable because we can't grant such a big gift to the enemy.
