Russian rockets hit the hometown of Ukrainian electro-pop duo Tvorchi during their Eurovision performance, officials in Kyiv said late on Saturday.

After the couple took to the stage in the city of Liverpool in northern England, Ternopil, a small city in western Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, the head of the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in a Telegram message what happened.

“It happened just at the moment when the Ukrainian group “Tvorchi” from Ternopil performed in the Eurovision final,” he said, adding that two people were injured.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said two people were injured in a “rocket attack” in a separate post on its Telegram channel. According to preliminary data, the couple received “shrapnel wounds and burns.”

According to the report, “fragments of a cruise missile hit the warehouses, causing a fire.”

In a later statement, the Ukrainian Air Force on Sunday said three cruise missiles and 25 drones were destroyed during the attack.

NBC News is unable to independently verify these claims.

Following his speech at an event in Liverpool, which took over the holding of the event after the organizers decided that Kyiv was not safe enough, Creativity spoke about the attack in a post on his Instagram channel.

“Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will,” they wrote, adding that the post is dedicated to “all the cities of Ukraine that are bombed every day” . day.

The sights and sounds of Ukraine were featured throughout the show, starting with the opening film, which saw the 2022 Eurovision winners the Kalush Orchestra sing and dance in the Kiev metro, and the tune was picked up by musicians from the UK, including Katherine, Princess of Wales, who was featured playing the piano.

As a result, Creativity took sixth place in the competition, which was won by the Swedish singer Loreen, who performed her song “Tatu”. She became the first singer to win the competition twice.

The Russian Ministry of Defense later confirmed that it had attacked Ternopil in a statement released on its Telegram channel on Sunday, saying it “delivered a strike with air- and sea-based long-range precision weapons.” He added that he was targeting storage sites for “ammunition, weapons and military equipment obtained from Western countries.”

The attack came after Zelenskiy traveled to Rome, where he met with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.

He then traveled to Berlin on Sunday for a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

There, he thanked Germany for its announcement on Saturday that it would provide Ukraine with nearly $3 billion worth of military aid, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

“You can rely on Germany,” he wrote on Twitter. “Together we bring the world closer!”

Inside Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had made “massive attempts” to breach defenses in the key eastern town of Bakhmut over the past 24 hours as pressure continued to mount on their forces.

It said that Ukraine attacked the north and south of the city, but did not break through the Russian defenses. “All attacks by units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been repelled,” the message says.

NBC News was unable to verify this claim.

This raised new doubts about the Kremlin’s hopes for a symbolic victory in the city and heightened the fears of Russian observers about the position of the military on the front line.

For months, Russia has been anticipating a Ukrainian spring counter-offensive that is expected to target occupied lands across the country. Moscow’s own winter offensive ended in public infighting as it suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield, with more than 100,000 Kremlin forces killed or wounded since December alone, according to US estimates.

Associated Press contributed.

Moving from Adelaide, Australia to Melbourne, Jessie Wright imagined exploring her new hometown, meeting new people. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

When Melbourne finally emerged from one of the longest lockdowns in the world, she found only unfamiliar surroundings. She broke up with her boyfriend, with whom she had lived for five years, and was isolated in a city that she had little to explore.

“After two years of isolation and separation, I realized that I don’t have a support network here or even a routine to return to,” she said. Newsweek. “I knew I needed to do something about it, but it’s hard to go out and make new friends when you’re not feeling better.

“This year I decided to take action and make it a reality. I listened [former monk-turned-life coach] Jay Shetty’s podcast on New Year’s resolutions and keeping them. He explained how important it is to have a plan of action.”

Wright found the idea of ​​New Year’s resolutions a useful tool to get things done. But the goal she set for herself for 2023 was much bigger than anything she had done before.

“My goal was to make new friends in the city, and having dinner with someone new every Thursday was my plan of action to make that happen,” she explained. “I would be very lucky if I had new friends with whom I could go for coffee or dinner. So Thursday is lunch day now.

“I always like to have a focus or goal for the new year, but I’ve never taken on any decision in this way before and shared it publicly.”

Wright shared a video on her TikTok account (@jssirite) on February 18 in which she laid out her plan to have 52 friendly dates during 2023. She explained “struggle for new friends” in a video that has over 214,000 views. Wright then continued to post about her desire to make more friends.

The video continued to circulate video published March 19 even surpassing 2.1 million views. The growing attention helped boost interest in Wright’s weekly dinner dates and prompted many people to send her messages saying they would be happy to spend the evening in her company.

“I have already received thousands of great offers, this is insane. So, I go through my Instagram and TikTok posts and reply.

“I am currently booking a month ahead as I find it odd to text someone asking them to plan months ahead. real friendship.

“So I sit down for a month and address four new dinner guests at the same time.”

“Making friends was essential for my mental health”

Some of the dinner dates were with people Wright followed on social media for a while but never met in person, while others were complete strangers she hooked up with after she went viral.

Blind dates can often go awry and lead to unforgettable experiences for all the wrong reasons, but Wright said Newsweek that she has enjoyed every friendship date she has been on so far. She kept in touch with many of them and subsequently also went out to have lunch, drink coffee or walk with the women.

While the idea of ​​going on a date with 52 new people over the course of a year is a fun concept, there’s a deeper meaning behind why Wright wanted to do it for herself.

“I used to go through very hard times,” she said. “I knew making friends and building a support network here was important to my mental health. Admitting that you are single or would like to make new friends is very difficult.

“Sometimes the only comfort you have in this loneliness is the fact that no one knows about it. Sharing your experience the way I do may seem counterintuitive, but it’s the only way to break the cycle.

“If you have a support network around you, you are very lucky. It’s so important to your mental health and enjoyment of life.”

How loneliness affects mental health

In the post-pandemic era, when lockdowns and security restrictions have been lifted, nearly half of Americans still socialize less than they did in pre-pandemic times.

According to a survey of 2,000 eligible U.S. voters conducted for Newsweek in January by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 42 percent said they were “less outgoing” than they were in 2019, and 37 percent said their friends were less outgoing now.

A project at Harvard University called Making caring a habit conducted in October 2020 found that 36 percent of Americans felt severe loneliness as a result of the pandemic. While loneliness affects people of all ages, the project found that 61 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 25 felt incredibly lonely at some point during quarantine.

Loneliness can be debilitating and create serious problems for a person’s mental health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that social isolation and increased loneliness are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, addiction, suicide and dementia.

National Council Certified Counselor and Therapist Juliet Lam Kunley regularly offers counseling and advice on mental health and wellness issues.

She said Newsweek: “As humans, we are connected to others, so isolation and loneliness really affect us cognitively, emotionally and physically. When we are alone, we may experience decreased energy and concentration, mental fog, loss of confidence, helplessness, and irritability. .

“Vulnerability is a risk that is absolutely necessary in order to make a connection. It’s crucial to express yourself, so start with things that seem available to you, but also be willing to consider things that are outside of your comfort zone.”

Kunley suggested going to a coffee shop, a workout, or a dog park, ideally to see the same people repeatedly, which can slowly build bonds. She also suggested using online groups and websites to find like-minded people with similar interests and hobbies.

When asked what she thought of Wright’s way of making 52 new friends this year, Kunley said, “I haven’t heard of anyone creating a deliberate plan like this, but I love it.

“I like structure and built-in responsibility. I so admire this person’s commitment to her values ​​as she wants a connection so she goes after her.”

“They are the main event of my week”

Wright now looks forward to dinner dates every Thursday night, which she might never have done had it not been for the breakup and moving to a new city.

“I didn’t have the support network here that I expected to have, so I had to build one from scratch,” Wright said. “This is what I look forward to every week and I have had the best time to connect with all my dates.

“They are the highlight of my week. I love planning where we’re going, what to wear, and then meeting someone new every week.

“Everyone who does this is so selfless and they are such good people. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have met so many incredible women that I sincerely wish I could befriend through this.”

If you have a personal dilemma, please let us know at life@newsweek.com. We can turn to experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work, and your story can be published on Newsweek Section “What to do?”.