Russia-Ukraine war: As the Russian-Ukraine war entered its 500th day, signs of de-escalation of conflict between Moscow and Kyiv are yet to be seen as another shelling by the former in the Donetsk region resulted in eight casualties on Saturday.
A report by BBC cited the Ukraine's interior ministry saying that at least 13 people were injured in the shelling at a residential area in the town of Lyman in Donetsk. A house, some vehicles and a printing shop caught fire due to the shelling.
"At around 10:00, the Russians struck the town with multiple rocket launchers," said the regional governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko on Twitter.
Lyman, a key railway hub in the Donetsk region, was captured by Russia earlier in the war and was subsequently retaken by Ukrainian forces in October 2022.
The Russia-Ukraine war is set to complete 500 days later this week, since Russia invaded the latter on February 2022. Scores of missile attacks and intense fighting have resulted in the deaths of scores of civilians from both sides, along with massive civilian casualties.
The latest Russian rocket strike in Ukraine's western city of Lviv on Thursday has claimed the lives of ten people, while 42 people were injured, according to the local mayor.
Russian missiles had also struck a pizza restaurant in Ukraine's Kramatorsk city last week, killing 11 people, including four children. As many as 56 people were injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a visit to Snake Island, thanked his soldiers as the war with Russia completed 500 days. "I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," he said.
Zelenskyy had earlier said that Ukrainian forces are making steady, but slow, gains in their counteroffensive against Russian troops. They are apparently conducting offensive operations near what is left of the eastern city of Bakhmut - controlled by Russian forces - as per the Ukrainian General Staff.
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