Russian shelling of Ukrainian city kills 16 as key US official visits

At least 16 folks have been killed and dozens wounded in Russian shelling that struck a market in a metropolis in jap Ukraine, officers say.
The lethal assault on Wednesday got here as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv and was anticipated to announce greater than US$1 billion ($1.57 billion) in new American funding.

Associated Press journalists on the web site of the assault in Kostiantynivka noticed coated our bodies on the bottom and emergency employees extinguishing fires at market stalls, with blackened and mangled vehicles close by.

Ukrainian troopers transfer to the ambulance an injured lady after a Russian rocket assault on a meals market within the metropolis centre of Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated not less than 16 folks have been killed. At least 28 have been wounded, in line with Internal Minister Ihor Klymenko.

Emergency service employees extinguished the hearth that broken about 30 pavilions on the out of doors market, Klymenko stated. Crews searched the rubble for any trapped civilians.

Twenty outlets, energy strains, administrative constructing and the ground of an condominium constructing have been broken, in line with the prosecutor normal’s workplace.

Blinken’s go to additionally was aimed toward assessing Ukraine’s three-month-old counteroffensive and sign continued US backing as some Western allies categorical worries about Kyiv’s gradual progress in driving out Russian forces after 18 months of conflict, in line with US officers.

“We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long-term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,” Blinken stated.

“We’re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy.”

Zelenskyy all smiles after warplanes pledge

Blinken was set to pledge greater than US$1 billion in new US funding, a senior State Department official stated, talking on situation of anonymity as a way to focus on the announcement earlier than it was made.

The cash could be for “a range” of investments, the official stated, with out elaborating.

Other points, together with assist for Ukraine’s war-torn economic system have been to be mentioned, constructing on Blinken’s June announcement in London of US$1.3 billion ($2 billion) in assist to assist Kyiv rebuild, with a concentrate on modernising its vitality community, which was bombarded by Russia final winter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that US help to Ukraine “can’t influence the course of the special military operation” — Moscow’s euphemism for the conflict.

Blinken arrived in Kyiv for an in a single day go to hours after Russia launched a missile assault on town. He was anticipated to fulfill with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and different high officers to debate the continuing counteroffensive and reconstruction efforts.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, left, welcomes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken forward of a gathering on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo through AP)

On the practice journey to Kyiv, Blinken met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, additionally on an official go to, to debate the conflict. Blinken thanked her for Denmark’s management in a coalition coaching Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and for promising to donate the fighter jets to Ukraine, in line with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Washington officers stated there shall be discussions of different export routes for Ukrainian grain following Russia’s exit from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and its frequent bombardment of port amenities within the Odesa area, from which most grain is transported overseas.

Those alternate options might embody new overland routes, or ships hugging coastlines to maintain out of worldwide waters the place they could possibly be focused by Russia’s navy.

After arriving in Kyiv, Blinken laid a wreath on the metropolis’s Berkovetske cemetery to commemorate members of the Ukrainian armed forces who misplaced their lives defending the nation.

Blinken advised Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba that the US has “seen good progress in the counteroffensive. It’s very heartening.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, centre, will get out of a automotive as he arrives on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a gathering with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo through AP)

Meeting with Shmyhal, Blinken stated he was in Ukraine “to reaffirm our commitment to stand with you … to help ensure that you succeed militarily in dealing with the aggression, but also to stand with you to make sure that your efforts to build a strong economy and a strong democracy succeed.”

Shmyhal stated Ukraine is grateful the cash is coming within the type of grants, not loans that will drive it into debt.

Overnight, Russia fired cruise missiles at Kyiv in its first aerial assault on the capital since August 30, in line with Serhii Popko, the pinnacle of Kyiv’s regional army administration.

Debris from a downed missile struck a business in Kyiv, inflicting a hearth and injury. No casualties have been reported.

Ukrainian Emergency Service rescuers work to extinguish a hearth following a Russian assault within the Kyiv area, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 6, 2023. (Ukrainian Emergency Service through AP Photo)

In the Odesa area, one particular person was killed in a Russian missile and drone assault on the port of Izmail that broken grain elevators, administrative buildings and agricultural enterprises, authorities stated.

The journey was Blinken’s fourth go to to Ukraine for the reason that conflict started, together with one very transient tour over the Polish-Ukrainian border in March 2022, only a month after the Russian invasion. But it will likely be the primary time America’s high diplomat spends the evening within the capital since he visited Kyiv in January 2022, earlier than the invasion.

Source: www.9news.com.au