At least seven people were confirmed dead on the 8th (local time) after Russian forces opened fire on Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. The death toll is likely to rise as rescue operations continue in the rubble.
According to AFP, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said seven people, including two children, were killed and 67 injured in Donetsk’s Pokrowsk earlier this morning. The list of dead also included high-ranking officials of the Donetsk provincial government. Minister Klimenko explained, “We had no choice but to stop the rescue operation overnight due to the threat of artillery fire.”
Donetsk Governor Pablo Kirilenko issued a statement on the same day, saying Russian missiles hit the city of Pokrovsk twice the night before, 40 minutes apart, damaging apartments, hotels, shops and administrative buildings. AFP reporters at the scene observed rescuers extricating survivors from the rubble of a five-story building and transporting injured people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media to criticize Russian forces for attacking a residential building. The video shared by President Zelensky showed residents helping the injured at the gruesome site where the entire building collapsed completely.
Pokrovsk, a small city with a population of 60,000, is only 50 km away from the Ukrainian eastern front, where Russian forces have established positions.
The day before, Russian forces claimed to have advanced on Kupyansk in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 150 km north of Pokrovsk. Kharkiv, including Kupiansk, is a strategically important area. Ukrainian forces recaptured it from Russian forces in September last year, but Russian forces have recently resumed their offensive.
On the 5th, two people were killed and four others were injured by a Russian air-guided missile that fell on a blood donation center near Kupiansk. On the 7th, the Russian army also dropped air-guided missiles in the same area, killing two more residents.
(Seoul = News 1)
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2023-08-08 08:07:00
