Ukraine claims to have killed Russian general; at least 9 dead in bombing in Sumy city

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its 13th day on Tuesday, and at least nine were killed in a bombing in the city of Sumy, reported news agency AFP quoting rescuers.

At least nine people, including two children, have died in an air strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, some 350 kilometres east of Kyiv, the rescue services said Tuesday as quoted by AFP.

“Enemy planes insidiously attacked apartment buildings” on Monday night, the rescue services said on Telegram after arriving on the scene at 11 pm. Sumy, near the Russian border, has been the scene of heavy fighting for days.

Earlier today, Russia declared a ceasefire amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine from 10 am (Moscow time) to provide humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol for the movement of civilians and relief materials. This came after earlier efforts to implement a ceasefire failed.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said that Russian general was killed in the fighting around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which Russian forces have been trying to seize since the invasion began.

It identified him as Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, and said he had fought with Russian forces in Syria and Chechnya and had taken part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Meanwhile, fears of an energy war between Russia and the West grew after the United States pushed its allies to ban Russian oil imports. Russia warned it could stop the flow of gas through pipelines from Russia to Germany in response to Berlin’s decision last month to halt the opening of the controversial new Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

• Russia Ukraine crisis
• Russia Ukraine war
• Russian general
• at least 9 dead
• bombing
• killed
• Sumy city