Overnight shelling by Russian forces destroyed gas pipes in the Ukrainian cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, according to a local official.
One person was killed and three were injured in the bombardment, which damaged pipelines in both towns and also hit Kreminna, according to Serhii Haidai, the head of the Luhansk regional administration, in a Telegram statement.
“Late in the evening, firefighters found the body of a man without signs of life under the rubble of one of the vocational schools in Kreminna,” he said. “Three women were injured as a result of the shelling in Lysychansk. They were evacuated from the damaged house and received timely medical care.”
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The central gas pipeline in Severodonetsk was destroyed, and work to restore water supply infrastructure that was damaged on Friday was underway Saturday, according to Haidai.
“There is no water and gas in the city,” he said. “An enemy shell also hit the gas pipeline in Lysychansk, but the consequences are less significant.”
Haidai reported on Friday that shelling in Severodonetsk had damaged the water supply system and destroyed two food stores.
“The Russians are cynically hitting infrastructure,” he said then.
The bombardment occurred as Russia warned of a massive offensive in eastern Ukraine in the coming days.
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Meanwhile, the chief of the Lviv regional military administration in western Ukraine reported that Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems shot down Russian cruise missiles fired into the Lviv region on Saturday morning.
“In the morning of April 16, missiles were fired at the Lviv region from Su-35 aircraft of the Russian occupiers,” Maksym Kozytsky, regional military governor, stated. “Units of anti-aircraft missile forces Air Command West of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed four cruise missiles.”
Kozytsky further alleged that the Russian plane that fired the missiles took off from the nearby Belarusian airbase of Baranovichi.