Russia Ukraine War: Russian army opened heavy fire in Ukraine, 5 killed and 18 injured

At least five civilians have been killed and 18 others have been injured in Russian military shelling in Ukraine. The President's Office of Ukraine gave this information on Wednesday. Donetsk administrative head Pavle Kyrilenko said most of the deaths occurred in Donetsk state. The state is part of an area where Russian-backed separatists have been in revolt for the past eight years.

Russian troops also opened heavy fire in the city of Bakhmat. Serhiy Haidai, governor of the neighboring Nuhansk region, said Ukrainian troops were fighting to regain control of two villages amid Russian shelling. Russian artillery also fired shells in north-east Ukraine, where regional governor Oleg Sinyubov accused Russian troops of intimidating people in Kharkiv. As Russian troops advance into Ukraine's eastern part, the Ukrainian military has claimed to have regained control of a city in the south. 

The leader of a Moscow-backed separatist government in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk said foreign fighters convicted of terrorism have appealed against their death sentences. If the appeal is rejected by the appellate court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, the death sentences of 2 UK citizens and 1 Moroccan national will be executed. At the same time, the UN Refugee Agency has said that most Ukrainian refugees want to return to their country but they are waiting for the situation to improve.