After more than 140 days of war, Vinnytsia is one of Ukraine’s new theaters of war. Rockets are raining down more than 700 km west of the Donbass and the number of dead is increasing. The Russians are accused on social networks of having bombed a maternity hospital and a medical center there, killing and injuring civilians. “There are many dead, including children and the sick,” said one user. Another is outraged: “The Russians are attacking the weakest, defenseless. »
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced “an open act of terrorism”: “Every day Russia kills civilians, kills Ukrainian children, fires rockets at civilian targets where there is nothing military. »
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For other netizens, it was an officers’ house converted into temporary military accommodation. “Russia only attacks fighters, don’t believe Ukrainian propaganda,” says another. What about the bombed out place in Vinnytsia? 20 minutes takes stock.
NOT CORRECT
The city of Vinnystia, far from the front lines, was indeed the target of the fire that Thursday, July 14th. As can be seen in the various videos recorded at the scene, the impact caused a powerful explosion and released heavy black smoke over the city. Ten stories of a large building were blown out by the blast.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, at least 23 people died, including three children, and more than a hundred were injured. The Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said these missiles were launched from the Black Sea. Authorities said “three missiles” hit the parking lot and a commercial building in the center of the city that houses offices and small businesses.
Thanks to the videos taken shortly after the events, it is possible to find the place in question, recognizable by the small plane, the monument honoring the Air Force and the large building whose windows were blown out. The latter is in fact a shopping center that notably houses several banks. At the end of this square is also the Budynok Ofitseriv, a hall where mainly concerts take place, also called the officers’ house, hence the accusation that an officers’ house was bombed.
A maternity ward nearby
The Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by public media group Rossia Segodnya editor-in-chief Margarita Simonian on Telegram, claimed to have targeted Vinnytsia “the house of officers where nationalists were stationed.” But there is nothing to confirm this point at the moment. A US defense official said on condition of anonymity: “I have no indication of the presence of a military target nearby. »
For example, the bombing of a medical center, the city’s second maternity ward is not far from the site of the bombing. Only a three-minute walk and less than 200 meters separate the building visible on the videos from the healthcare facility. It is impossible to say exactly which building was the target of the bombing, but many were damaged, either by the blast itself or by the fires that followed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for the creation of a special court and new sanctions against Moscow, believing that it was “time for the democratic world to enshrine all of this in appropriate legal instruments”. For his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled” and recalled that the organization condemned “any attack on civilians or civilian infrastructure”.