KIEV, UKRAINE (AP) – At least seven civilians have been killed in weekend shelling by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used traditional Easter messages to highlight the war and other conflicts in Ukraine. In the world.
While Russia remains focused on occupying all of Ukraine’s industrial eastern part, two of her other provinces, Kharkiv in the northeast and Zaporizhia in the southeast, have been hit by rockets, rockets and artillery fire. Ukrainian military reported.
Kharkiv Governor Olev Sinievbov said two men were killed Sunday in shelling of the Russian-held city of Kupiansk before Ukrainian forces regained control of nearly the entire province.
The city came under further attacks later on Sunday when Russian forces used multiple rocket launchers to target residential areas, Syniehubov said. Elsewhere in the province, a 30-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after a Russian shelling of the city of Chuhuyf, he said on his Telegram. City council secretary Anatoly Kultev said two people, including a child born in 2012, were killed overnight in the city of Zaporizhia, the capital of the province.
Yuriy Malashko, governor of the Zaporizhia region, said a total of 18 municipalities had been hit. Marasico said he had three dead and five injured on Saturday.
The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians who belong to a religion identify themselves as Orthodox Christians who celebrate Easter on April 16 this year. Some Catholics celebrated Easter on Sunday, while the Orthodox celebrated Palm Sunday that weekend.
While delivering his Easter address from the central balcony of the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis implored God to “help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia.″
”Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families,” Francis said.
Easter affirms the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion. Welby, who as archbishop of Canterbury is the ceremonial head of worldwide Anglican Communion, said the occasion provided hope that “true peace is no aimless daydream, but a reality offered because Christ was raised from the dead.”
Between Saturday and Sunday mornings, Russian forces launched 40 air strikes, four missile strikes and 58 attacks from multiple-rocket launchers on various parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces reported.
According to the General Staff, Russia focused attacks on the Donetsk province communities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. Donetsk Regional Governor Pablo Kirilenko said on Sunday morning that two civilians were injured .
An official in Kherson oblast, where Ukrainian forces were forced to partially withdraw Russian troops in November, said the southern region had also suffered numerous attacks. They reported no casualties.
The War Research Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said late Saturday that it believed the overall Russian offensive was “nearing a climax.”
The institute quoted Ivan Tymochko, chairman of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Reserve Council, saying that the recent Russian offensive was intended to distract and disperse Ukrainian forces in preparation for a possible counterattack.
