Ukraine war: Russian shelling kills 6 in Donbas; Vladimir Putin and Türkiye’s Erdogan to discuss grain exports

Kyiv said a two-storey building in Toretsk in the industrial east was struck by Russian artillery early on Monday

Meanwhile, Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the UN are expected to sign a deal aimed at resuming the shipping of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea

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Rescuers release a man from ruins of a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine on Monday. Photo State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters

Published: 9:33pm, 18 Jul 2022Updated: 9:34pm, 18 Jul 2022

Russian shelling in battle-scarred east Ukraine on Monday left six dead, Kyiv said, as the country was reeling from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to sack two senior law enforcement officials.

EU foreign ministers were convening meanwhile to discuss toughening sanctions against Moscow and the bloc’s foreign policy chief warned of the “life and death” consequences of Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports.

Rescuers in blue helmets could be seen digging through debris and clearing rubble from the collapsed remains of a two-storey building in Toretsk in the industrial east that was struck by Russian artillery early on Monday.

“Rescuers found and recovered the bodies of five dead people in total. Three people were rescued from the rubble and one of them died in hospital,” the emergency services said, adding their rescue operations had concluded.

Rescuers work at the ruins of a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters

Toretsk, a town with of around 30,000 residents lies some 50 kilometres south of Kramatorsk, a key target for Russian forces that were ordered into Ukraine in February.