Governor: 7 in critical condition after Russian strike on Kupiansk

Eleven people have been injured, including seven in critical condition, after Russian forces shelled downtown Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Aug. 20.

The governor added that three others are in a more stable condition, while one other person received medical help on the site.

Russian forces struck the city with artillery fire several times in the afternoon, damaging cars and the office of a delivery company.

Fighting in the area has escalated in recent weeks, according to Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, as Russian forces are trying to advance in the Lyman and Kupiansk axes to relieve Ukrainian forces' pressure on Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

Due to increased Russian attacks, the local authorities launched a mandatory evacuation of civilians from 37 settlements in the Kupiansk community on Aug. 10.

The Kupiansk City Military Administration reported that the residents would be relocated to safer Ukrainian regions.

Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

Editor’s note: Some soldiers, local police officers and residents of Kupiansk district, Kharkiv Oblast, are not identified by name due to security concerns. All of the reporting and interviewing for this story was completed before the order was announced on Aug. 10 to evacuate 12,000 district reside…

The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov