Sixty people feared dead following a
Russian airstrike on a school in the Luhansk region where 90 people took
shelter, said a military official.

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Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk
Regional Military Administration, said they have rescued the remaining 30
people from the school. Seven of them suffered life-threatening injuries.

Bodies of two people were found in the
debris, Hayday said in a Telegram post on Sunday, adding that it is
“likely that all of the 60 people left under the building’s wreckage were
killed.”

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A Russian aircraft had dropped a bomb on
the school in the village of Bilohorivka, which is some seven miles from the
frontlines, according to Hayday.

The strike hit at around 4:37 p.m. local
time on Saturday, causing fires to break out that took almost four hours to
extinguish, he said.

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Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk
regional military administration, said the school building was completely
destroyed.

“The explosion happened inside the
building. Rescuers [are] dismantling the debris as quickly as possible. The
chances of finding [anyone still] alive are very small. There were 90 people
inside the school building; 27 survived, 60 people most likely died,” said
Hayday.

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Last night’s heavy fighting disrupted
the rescue operation. Hayday also said that fighting had continued into Sunday
on several fronts in Luhansk — including Bilohorivka, Voyevodivka, and
Rubizhne. He also said there was an extremely difficult situation around Hirske

Near Popasna, Russian artillery hit the
house where 11 people were hiding in the basement, he said. Rescuers were
dismantling the debris.

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Hayday said Ukrainian troops had
withdrawn a “little way” from Popasna. “Since the city was
destroyed, our troops retreated to more fortified positions.”

Meanwhile, Russian forces have made minor
advances on one front near the city of Izium, according to the Ukrainian
military, but are also on the defensive near Kharkiv as a Ukrainian
counter-attack continues.