Moscow [Russia], May 28: Fighting is fierce in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, after Russia opened a front in Kharkiv province in northeastern Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent page on May 28, citing information from the Southern Campaign Command of the Ukrainian army, said that Russian forces attacked Zaporizhzhia airport with Kh-59 cruise missiles.
Official Volodymyr Marchuk at the Zaporizhzhia Provincial Military Administration previously confirmed the attack but did not provide further details. Afterwards, Ukrainian parliamentarian Musa Magomedov said the attack took place on May 26, and posted a photo of the heavily damaged building at the airport.
Before the attack, an air strike warning sounded in the province, along with a warning about the possibility of Russia attacking with Kh-59 cruise missiles. The explosion was recorded shortly afterwards. Initial information said there were no casualties.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said it had opened a criminal investigation into the attack because the missile targeted civilian infrastructure. Russia has not commented on the above information, but has always affirmed that the campaign does not target civilians or Ukrainian civilian facilities.
The building at Zaporizhzhia airport was inaugurated in October 2020 and was repeatedly hit by Russian fire, according to Liga news site. More than half of Ukraine's airports were damaged by Russian attacks during the war. Ukraine has suspended civil aviation operations since hostilities began.
In another development, Reuters reported that the city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, currently controlled by Russia, was attacked twice within the first 3 hours of May 28.
Russian-appointed officials here said both attacks caused fires, while Ukrainian officials have not commented. Ukrainian media and military bloggers posted images of what they described as a large fire in the city after the first attack.
In addition, there is also footage of a fire during a second attack on an airport. Ukraine's military has launched at least three attacks on Luhansk and surrounding areas in recent weeks, mainly targeting fuel depots.
Luhansk is one of four regions that Russia unilaterally annexed based on the referendum results a few months after sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022. So far Russia does not have complete control over any of those regions. The annexation was opposed by Ukraine and many countries.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
