- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
'Miracle' survival of Ukrainian mother and daughter shelled by Russia
Tanya Los was washing the dishes at home in her southern Ukrainian village Mala Tokmachka on Sunday, her daughter Anastasia by her side, when a Russian rocket crashed into her kitchen.
By what she called a "miracle", both women survived unscathed.
But the Los household was not the only civilian infrastructure hit by Russian forces in Mala Tokmachka in recent weeks, as Moscow intensifies attacks on Ukraine's south and east.
Rockets have been raining down on the village, which lies around 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of regional hub Zaporizhzhia.
One of the village schools was hit, as was the building housing its teachers. A rocket blasted a hole in the facade of the local cultural centre.
A village resident who now leads the local territorial defence group, Yuriy, told AFP that several houses were hit by Russian air strikes on Sunday.
One of the houses only has its walls left standing, and seems to have been taken over by cats. Half a dozen tomcats reigned in the yard of the abandoned home.
The Los home was far luckier.
A corner of the kitchen, which is isolated from the main body of the house, was pierced by a rocket.
A plastic screen now covers two sections of the wall in the room and the floor has been damaged.
- Constant shelling -
"If it wasn't for the fridge, my daughter would have been killed," Tanya Los said.
The 59-year-old mother said the pair were "protected" by an Orthodox icon in the room, where a religious calendar still hangs.
Anastasia, 24, was too shaken to speak to AFP.
The remnants of the rocket still lay in the family's kitchen, and it is hard to comprehend how the women survived the strike.
The almost two-meter silver rocket had broken in two as its tail fins came off during the strike. It should not have left the mother and daughter any chance of surviving.
"It's a miracle," Tanya said.
Based on the serial number on the wreckage and using the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment's online archive, AFP found that the rocket was likely fired from a Soviet-designed BM-27 Uragan missile launcher.
The weapon that hit the Los household would have dispersed submunitions in flight before crashing into the small brick house.
"Now every time we hear the sound of bombardment, we run to the basement," Tanya said.
"The problem is that in the last two days it never stops. Day and night."
During the hour and a half that AFP was in Mala Tokmachka, the roar of heavy weapons was constant.
It often came from nearby as the Ukrainian army launched outgoing fire. Russian forces responded from a distance.
AFP found the same in the town of Orikhiv, a dozen kilometres away.
"In the last two or three days, the shelling has been more intense," said Dmytro Malyovanysk, a fire brigade deputy chief, whose men intervened Tuesday after a supermarket and doctor's office where damaged by Russian rockets.
- Suitcases ready -
"A week ago, we could hear some sounds of war, but they came from afar," said Ira Pelechko, the owner of a shop plunged into near darkness most of the day due to power cuts.
"Now, when it comes from the Russian side, the houses shake and it is much more frequent," one of her clients, Vitaly Dovbnia, said.
He said he keeps a packed suitcase in his car, ready to flee at any moment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening announced that Russia had renewed its offensive in the east of the country.
But on the southern front the increase in attacks appears to have started earlier.
Artur Kharlamov fled Russian-occupied Melitopol north to Orikhiv on Tuesday.
He claimed to have seen Russian troops digging trenches in three different places during his journey.
Fresh Ukrainian trenches are also visible on the Ukrainian side.
Tanya and Anastasia Los remained stuck in the grey zone between the two camps.
They were almost alone in their village, with Mala Tokmachka emptying and a little more destroyed with every day.
Tanya Los said two cows they own are their only wealth. One of them is going to calve soon.
"I can't leave her," she sighed softly, as heavy weapons roared nearby.
S.Pimentel--PC