Both cities did not immediately announce any casualties….reports Asian Lite News
Russian airstrikes hit Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv as well as the western city of Lviv on Friday morning, according to the mayors of the two cities.
“At least six explosions were heard in the city,” Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said in a Telegram post, while Lviv’s Andriy Sadovyi reported “information about 2 strikes” on the city, which lies just 70 kilometres from the Polish border.
“A massive missile attack” was how Terekhov put the attack on Kharkiv.
The regional military authority of Kharkiv said that Russia had “made about 10 strikes on the city” and that specialists were still identifying the specific weaponry employed.
Both cities did not immediately announce any casualties.
A 66-year-old lady lost her life and another was injured when Russian soldiers shelled Vovchansk in the Kharkiv area on Thursday.
According to authorities, three ladies, ages 58 to 76, were injured in an airstrike that targeted the Kharkiv region’s Glushkivka hamlet.
The mayor of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, reported around midnight that a fallen drone’s wreckage had struck a high-rise structure in the city, causing it to catch fire.
“As a result of another enemy attack, one of the high-rise buildings was damaged. The fire was promptly extinguished,” Mayor Gennady Trukhanov said in a social media post.
The Kremlin has not commented on Kyiv’s claims but said it had thwarted an “attempted” Ukranian drone attack that targeted the Kursk region in the country’s west.
The latest attacks come a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the United States for releasing the last remaining package of weapons for Ukraine that had been previously authorised.
Backlash over celebrity party in Moscow amid Ukraine war
Authorities took action against Russian celebrities who attended an “almost naked” themed party in Moscow, organised by blogger Anastasia Ivleeva, CNN reported.
The event, held at the Mutabor club on December 20-21, faced strong opposition from Orthodox Church officials, pro-war activists, and pro-Kremlin lawmakers, especially considering the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Rapper Vacio, who attended the party wearing only a sock to cover his genitals, has been sentenced to 15 days in jail and fined 200,000 rubles (approximately USD 2,200) after a Moscow court ruled the event was aimed at “propagating non-traditional sexual relationships.” Vasilyev was found guilty of offences including “petty hooliganism.”
“Nikolay Vasilyev (better known as rapper Vacio) participated in a party at the ‘Mutabor’ nightclub, disrupted public order, used vulgar language, and disseminated publications in Telegram channels aimed at promoting non-traditional sexual relationships in mass media on the internet,” the court ruling said, according to CNN.
The Kremlin’s expansion of anti-LGBTQ laws in recent years, coupled with a conservative shift following the Ukraine invasion, has heightened societal tensions. Last month, Russia’s Supreme Court labelled the “international LGBTQ movement” as an extremist organisation.
Facing public outcry, rapper Vacio issued a public apology.
Initially, the organiser, Ivleeva, stated that the attire choices of the partygoers were individual decisions, asserting that the event served as an opportunity to exhibit photos taken during her role as the chief editor of the Russian edition of Playboy. However, in a 21-minute video released later, she tearfully apologized, seeking forgiveness or condemnation.
A lawsuit seeking 1 billion rubles (USD 11 million) for moral damages was filed against Ivleeva for organising the party. Pop star Anna Asti, another attendee, had her New Year’s event in Moscow cancelled.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from commenting on the controversy, urging discretion. “Regarding this party, I ask for your mercy: let’s stay the only ones in the country not discussing this topic,” he said.
Pro-war activist Ekaterina Mizulina thanked Russian police for their response, sharing messages from citizens expressing outrage at hosting such events during a military conflict.
Critics, including Vitaly Borodin of the Federal Project for Security and Anti-Corruption, condemned the party as “sodomy, obscurantism, and LGBT propaganda.” Borodin called on the Minister of Internal Affairs to send police to the Mutabor nightclub, emphasising the perceived insensitivity during a time when Russian youth are involved in military operations in Ukraine, CNN reported. (ANI)
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