Russia Bombs School in Eastern Ukraine Amid Reports That Russian Troops Struggle To Make Military Gains in Donbas

A purported Russian airstrike destroyed a school supposedly acting as a bomb shelter in an eastern Ukrainian hamlet this weekend, killing dozens of people.

According to area governor Serhiy Haidai, more than 60 persons are likely to have died as a result of the bombing in Bilohorivka, Luhansk. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the tragedy in the eastern hamlet of Bilohorivka might rank among the bloodiest attacks on civilians in Ukraine.

Russia's Missiles Pound Ukraine's Odesa

It happened as President Vladimir Putin's military stepped up their efforts to secure territory ahead of Victory Day, Russia's traditional celebration of pomp and ceremony on May 9. On Sunday, fights could be heard along the route to Bilohorivka. Soldiers advised civilian automobiles to turn back as Ukrainian and Russian forces swapped missiles and artillery fire.

Firefighters were seen crawling through the wreckage as little flames licked the ruins in video footage from what was left of the school. It was unknown how many persons were inside and whether or not the military were present at the time of the attack.

The bombing horrified British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who said that purposeful targeting of people and civilian infrastructure might constitute war crimes, on Twitter on Sunday. The attack on the school comes amid mounting worries that Putin may use Monday's Victory Day holiday to launch an even more brutal assault on Ukraine, even if just briefly, according to the Washington Post.

Buildings in Odesa were in ruins on Tuesday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin led defiant festivities celebrating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany in World War Two. While Putin remained silent on any intentions for escalation in Ukraine, the battle continued on Monday, with Russian forces renewing their assault on the remaining Ukrainian troops holding out in a damaged Mariupol steelworks.

Seven missiles hit a retail center and a warehouse in Odesa, a key Black Sea port for agricultural exports, killing one person and injuring five others, Ukraine's armed forces reported on Facebook.

Firefighters combed over mountains of rubble, dousing still smoldering wreckage, according to video footage from the area. Ukraine, a major maize and wheat producer and its allies have stepped up attempts to open ports or find other routes for grain, wheat, and corn exports.

On Monday, European Council President Charles Michel paid a visit to Odesa, calling for a worldwide reaction to help Ukraine. According to Shmyhal's official Twitter account, the missile assault disrupted a meeting between Michel and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Odesa, sending the men into a bomb shelter.

Four people were murdered and numerous residences were destroyed in Russian attacks in the village of Bogodukhov, northwest of Kharkiv, according to local media. Air raid sirens might be heard early Tuesday in Ukraine's eastern provinces, including Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, as per Reuters.

Reporter Admits Russian Troops Are Struggling in Ukraine

Meanwhile, a pro-Moscow reporter claims that Russia is unable to achieve substantial military gains in Ukraine's Donbas area because it is battling Kyiv's army one-on-one.

In a video broadcast on social media late Monday, war journalist and Putin propagandist Aleksandr Sladkov made a rare acknowledgment of Russia's military challenges in Ukraine.

He said that Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" was pathetically indecisive, that Russian troops are unable to push Ukrainian forces out and that Moscow's army is "creating a feat out of something that should be commonplace."

Sladkov, a journalist for Russia's state-run Russia-1 TV station, has previously worked with Putin's troops to produce military propaganda for the Kremlin. The video, which shows Sladkov speaking harshly about Russia's invasion strategy to a camera in a dark room, is a departure from the reporter's usual tone.

The tape also appears to back with a US official's assessment from Monday, which stated that the Russian campaign in the Donbas has made no major advance in recent days and is still facing heavy resistance from Ukrainian forces. According to reports, a senior US official claimed on Monday that some Russian commanders are even defying military instructions, Daily Mail reported.