As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 12th day on March 7, an oil depot in Ukraine’s Luhansk was on fire after a massive explosion in the separatist region.
As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 12th day on Monday, March 7, an oil depot in Ukraine’s Luhansk was on fire after a massive explosion in the separatist region. It is pertinent to note that pro-Russian separatist regions in Ukraine’s Donbass – Donetsk and Luhansk – were declared independent by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21.
In visuals accessed by Republic TV, dense, dark smoke can be seen billowing from the refinery. The explosion in Luhansk comes hours after Mykolaiv was hit by multiple Russian rocket launchers. Additionally, several residential complexes have been damaged after missile strikes in Ovruch during the late hours of Sunday.
Russia claims Ukraine withdrew forces from Donetsk
The massive explosion at Luhansk’s oil depot comes a day after Moscow-run state media shared footage claiming that Ukraine’s forces had withdrawn from the rebel-held Donetsk region. The newly released video had been reportedly captured from the breakaway Donetsk region of Donbass, a self-proclaimed republic, recognised as independent by Russia. The clip alleged that Ukrainian troops “left behind ruined tanks.”
Russian state-owned news agency RT shared the clip on Sunday soon after Putin touted that his country had “practically” succeeded in the “mission” of demolishing Ukraine’s main military infrastructure, including weapons, air defence, and ammunition depots. Part of the clip also showed that the Russian Armey’s Ka-52 combat helicopter destroying armoured vehicles via anti-tank guided missiles in Donbass.
Russia-Ukraine war: Ove 1.5 million displaced
Russian forces launched hundreds of missiles and artilleries across the country, including bombings on residential areas of Chernihiv. However, the miles-long Russian armoured column threatening Kyiv was still stalled outside Ukraine’s capital city.
Russia’s Defence Ministry on Saturday declared a partial ceasefire to allow humanitarian corridors for citizens to leave the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha. However, Ukraine had to halt evacuation efforts after Russia reportedly violated the ceasefire.
According to the UN, the number of people that have fled Ukraine has increased to 1.5 million as Ukrainian refugees continued to stream into neighbouring countries, including Romania, Poland and Moldova.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has confirmed that 351 civilians have been reported dead and 707 civilians have been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
