KYIV: Six people were killed and eight others injured on Sunday after Russian missiles struck a densely populated area of the eastern Kostyantynivka city of Ukraine.
According to the Donetsk regional police, Russia fired S-300 and Uragan missiles in a “huge attack” involving six missile strikes just after 10 am local time.
The explosion hit “16 apartment buildings, eight private residences, a kindergarten, one administrative building, three cars, and a gas pipeline”.
The attack took place just 27 km (17 miles) from Bakhmut city, where the heaviest fighting of the ongoing conflict is taking place.
Prosecutors reported that the six victims were aged between their late 40s to mid-60s, including three women and three men.
AFP journalists at the scene saw the damage caused by the attack, including a large crater in a yard and shattered windows from ground to top floors in two fourteen-storey tower blocks.
Destruction after missile strike in Ukraine
Private houses also had smashed roofs. Some residents of the affected buildings expressed their shock and dismay, including a 19-year-old psychology student who said she was “just shocked” when she found out that her area was hit.
The attack comes amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with both states accusing each other of aggression.
Russia has been supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine since 2014, leading to a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Western countries have condemned the recent Russian military buildup near the border and called for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis. – AFP
