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At Least 15 Killed After Russian Rockets Hit Apartment Building in Ukraine’s Donbas

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At least 15 people were killed and two dozen more are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, local officials said on Sunday as rescuers picked their way through rubble.

Ukraine also reported clashes with Russian troops on fronts in the east and south, while Moscow said its forces struck Ukrainian army hangars storing U.S.-produced M777 howitzers, a type of artillery, near Kostyantynivka in Donetsk region.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the strike on the apartment building took place on Saturday evening in the town of Chasiv Yar. The regional emergency service gave the death toll at 15 on Sunday afternoon, adding that 24 more people could still be under the rubble. read more

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“We ran to the basement, there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen,” said a local resident who gave her name as Ludmila, speaking as rescuers removed a body in a white sheet and cleared rubble using a crane as well as their hands.

“The second (strike), I do not even remember, there was lightning, we ran towards the second entrance and then straight into the basement. We sat there all night until this morning.”

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a Telegram post that the strike was “another terrorist attack,” and that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism as a result.

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Russia, which says it is conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarise Ukraine, denies deliberately attacking civilians.

Luhansk and Donetsk provinces comprise the Donbas, Ukraine’s eastern industrial region that has become Europe’s biggest battlefield for generations. Russia wants to wrest control of the Donbas on behalf of the separatists that it supports.

Moscow says ejecting the Ukrainian military out of the region is central to what it calls its “special military operation” to ensure its own security, an offensive that has lasted for more than four months and which the West calls an unprovoked war.

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Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the town of Sloviansk in Donetsk but were forced to withdraw, Ukraine’s military said, adding that Russian forces had launched a cruise missile attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv from their side of the border. It gave no details of damage or casualties.

Luhansk region Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces were gathering in the area of the village of Bilohorivka, about 50 km (30 miles) east of Sloviansk.

“The enemy is … shelling the surrounding settlements, carrying out air strikes, but it is still unable to quickly occupy the entire Luhansk region,” he said on Telegram.

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Russia claimed control over all of Luhansk province last weekend.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had destroyed two hangars near the Donetsk town of Kostyantynivka holding the U.S.-made M777 howitzers, which it said had been used to shell residential areas of Donetsk.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts.

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Ukrainian military spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw.

In the south, Ukrainian forces fired missiles and artillery at Russian positions including ammunition depots in the Chornobaivka area, Ukraine’s military command said.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a trip to Asia, urged the international community to join forces to condemn Russian aggression. He said he had raised concerns with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over Beijing’s alignment with Moscow.

The two met for more than five hours on the sidelines of a gathering of G20 foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov walked out of a meeting there on Friday, denouncing the West for “frenzied criticism”.

Shortly before the Russian invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” partnership, although U.S. officials have said they have not seen China evade U.S.-led sanctions on Russia or provide it with military equipment.

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Zelenskiy dismissed several of Ukraine’s senior envoys abroad on Saturday, saying it was part of “normal diplomatic practice”. He said he would appoint new ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary. read more

Zelenskiy has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s advance.

Ukraine suffered a diplomatic setback on Saturday, when Canada said it would return a repaired turbine that Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom used to supply natural gas to Germany. Ukraine had argued that a return would violate sanctions on Russia.

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Crime

Police Foil Cult Initiation in Anambra, Arrest Six Suspects

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The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.

According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.

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Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.

“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.

The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.

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Court remands 2 over alleged attempted murder

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Court discharges man accused of burning father’s house in Abuja

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.

Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.

The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.

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Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.

The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.

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She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.

“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.

Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.

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He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.

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Man jailed 3 months for stealing mobile phone

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An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.

The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.

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Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.

Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec.  1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.

He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.

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The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.

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