At least four civilians were killed in Russian shelling of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where Moscow has been pressing an offensive in recent weeks, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on July 30.
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"On July 29, the Russians killed four residents of Donetsk region -- three in Toretsk and one in Hrodivka. Another five people in the region were injured during the day," Filashkin wrote on Telegram on July 30.
Russian forces have intensified their attacks in Donetsk over the past several days in the direction of Toretsk and the mining city of Pokrovsk, where constant shelling has prompted the evacuation of hundreds of civilians from the area, local officials told RFE/RL.
"The city is 20 kilometers from the front line," Serhiy Dobriak, the head of the Pokrovsk military administration, told RFE/RL.
The Ukrainian military said early on July 30 that 149 close combat clashes took place during the previous 24 hours, most of them in the Pokrovsk direction, where Ukrainian forces stopped 52 Russian attacks.
In the southern region of Kherson, eight people were wounded and infrastructure was damaged in shelling by Russian forces of Chornobayivka, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram on July 30.
"The Russian military targeted critical infrastructure facilities and port infrastructure; residential quarters of settlements in the region, in particular, a multistory building and 24 private houses. Gas pipelines were also damaged," he said. "Due to the Russian aggression, eight people were wounded."
In Russia, the acting governor of the Kursk region, Aleksei Smirnov, said four Ukrainian missiles were shot down over the region early on July 30.
Smirnov said the missiles were shot down over the Oktyabrsky and Kurchatovsky districts of the region. On social media, residents reported an explosion in the sky over the city of Kursk, as well. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Ukraine has not commented on the claim.
The Russian claims could not be independently verified.
Since the early days of Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's forces have systematically targeted Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure facilities, causing casualties and huge damage. In turn, Ukraine has started targeting oil-refining facilities and other energy infrastructure inside Russia that mainly work for the military.
Aleksei Smirnov, the Russian governor of the Kursk border region, said on July 30 that rescuers finally extinguished a huge fire at an oil depot after suspected Ukrainian military drones struck the oil refining installation on July 28.
On July 29, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Ukrainian forces who have been holding off Russian attempts to make advances into the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Zelenskiy traveled to Vovchansk, a Ukrainian settlement just 5 kilometers from the Russian border in Kharkiv region where Moscow's forces attempted a breakthrough a couple of months ago but were largely stopped by Ukrainian troops.
"Kharkiv direction. The forward command post of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the area of Vovchansk," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "Today, I had the honor to be there to congratulate our Special Forces warriors on their professional day and to present them with state awards," Zelenskiy wrote, adding, "I am grateful for their bravery and heroic operations behind enemy lines, as well as during the defense and de-occupation of our cities and villages."