A shocking Russian missile attack on a village market in eastern Ukraine this morning left two women dead and several injured, including a 10-year-old girl.
Harrowing images from the scene of the strike in Shevchenkove, 50 miles southeast of the regional capital Kharkiv, showed a square littered with rubble as rescue teams scrambled through the ruins searching for survivors.
A woman covered in blood was seen lying face down in the rubble waiting for help, with rescuers placing a dirt-covered cushion under her head as they tended to more serious cases.
Moments later, other rescuers were seen moving what appeared to be a dead body before an injured girl was pulled from the rubble, her face streaked with crimson.
A building burns at the site of a market hit by Russian missiles, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Shevchenkove.
Rescuers dig through the rubble after the attack.
A photograph posted online by the Ukrainian president’s office shows rescuers trying to pull a woman out of the dirt and rubble after the missile attack.
An injured child is carried after a Russian missile attack on a local market in the village of Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in this image released on January 9, 2023.
A photograph posted online by the Ukrainian president’s office showed rescuers trying to pull a woman in a thick winter coat from the rubble. Her head and arms protruded from under the rubble, but it was not clear if she was alive.
Other images posted by Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on the Telegram messaging app showed burning wreckage and a large crater in the center of Shevchenkove.
“The Russian army committed another act of terror against the civilian population and a child was injured, two women were killed,” the regional prosecutor’s office said.
Criticizing Russia over the attack, Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, wrote on Telegram: “Common terrorists.”
Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, wrote on Telegram: ‘According to confirmed information, a 60-year-old woman unfortunately died.
All other victims were hospitalized. The doctors are helping them. Rescue teams continue to clear the rubble.’
Suspilne quoted a local official as saying that at least three pavilions were destroyed in the attack and a shopping center was damaged, but Monday was not a market day.
The town succumbed to Russian occupation days after Vladimir Putin ordered his tanks across the border on February 24, 2022, but was liberated by Ukrainian forces in September.
Rescuers look through the rubble after an attack on a local market in the village of Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region.
A firefighter works at a market site hit by Russian missiles, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Shevchenkove.
Ukrainian service members pose for a photo in the recently liberated settlement of Shevchenkove, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, in this photo released on September 10, 2022.
Just hours after the brutal attack on Ukrainian civilians, the Kremlin issued an ominous statement on Monday, claiming further Western arms deliveries to Kyiv would only “deepen the suffering of the Ukrainian people” and would not change the course of the conflict.
“This supply will not be able to change anything,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a daily briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose army launched a series of successful counterattacks and recaptured significant swaths of territory from the occupiers in the months leading up to the New Year, has called on Western allies for heavier weapons and air defenses as he seeks to tip the balance of 10 – Conflict of a month in your favor.
The US, UK and EU have been reluctant to supply Ukraine with their most advanced heavy weaponry, but France, Germany and the US agreed last week to send several of their respective infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). ): the AMX-10, the Marder and the Bradley.
These vehicles are not considered tanks due to their lack of armor and weaponry, but the machinery will certainly provide Ukrainian infantry with greater firepower and maneuverability than it has lacked up to now.
The US Bradley, which served with distinction in the 1991 Gulf War, is widely considered to be the most advanced IFV, with a 25mm cannon fired from a chain gun and a pod on the side, effective for eliminate russian battle tanks.
The US provision of 50 Bradleys is part of a nearly $3 billion military aid package announced by President Joe Biden last week.
The United States has committed to sending about 50 Bradley tanks to Ukraine. The vehicles were very effective during the Gulf War in 1991.
The German Marder was described as ‘respectable but old’ and around 40 were understood to have been pledged to the Ukraine.
The French-supplied AMX-10 IFV is capable of high speed and has been described as ideal for an “echelon reconnaissance or quick reaction force”.
Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, President Volodymyr Zelensky has successfully lobbied Western allies for technology that would outperform the invaders.
France has not confirmed how many AMX-10s it will send, while the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that around 40 Marders, the equivalent of a battalion, are likely to be sent.
Germany also announced that it would provide Ukraine with the coveted Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) defense system, which should prove essential to fend off Russian airstrikes and rocket attacks.
Ukrainian army chief Valery Zaluzhny says he needs 300 tanks, 600-700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers to push Russia back to its lines before the invasion.
Writing for The Guardian, defense studies professor at Kings College London Michael Clarke said: “Kyiv still has a ways to go before it has enough equipment and troops to carry out the kind of offensive that will drive out the Russian forces from most, or all, of its territory
“He needs a lot more than he already has, and then more overtly offensive weapons systems, including heavier armored forces, more attack aircraft, and more drones and missiles.”
