Artillery shells struck a suburb of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine Sunday, killing at least 27 people, including many at a crowded market, Moscow-backed officials said. Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of a sharp escalation in attacks on civilian areas over the past two months. Shattered storefronts and broken glass could be seen in videos shared by Russian state media, along with what appeared to be bodies lying on the ground nearby. Officials said the shelling hit a southwestern suburb of the city called Tekstilshchik, less than 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the frontline.
“Twenty-seven civilians were killed and another 25 people were injured of varying severity, among them two teenagers,” said Denis Pushilin, head of the region’s Russian-controlled administration. He blamed Ukraine for the attack, calling it a “horrific” artillery strike on a civilian area. Ukrainian shelling of a separate neighbourhood in the city killed one other person, bringing the total number of dead across Donetsk to 28, Pushilin said. AFP was not able to immediately verify the circumstances of the attack.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the strike, but its Tavria army group, which operates in the south of the country, denied it was responsible. “We responsibly declare that forces subordinate to the Tavria military unit did not engage in combat operations in this case. Donetsk is Ukraine! Russia will have to be held accountable for the lives of Ukrainians taken,” it added. Ukrainian officials said Russian shelling killed at least two people in Ukrainian-controlled villages west of Donetsk on Sunday. The market strike was one of the deadliest on Donetsk since Moscow launched full-scale hostilities against Ukraine in February 2022.
Security threats and acts of terrorism should not be committed from the territory of Ukraine,” its foreign ministry said. Authorities in the region have declared Monday a day of mourning, Pushilin said. News of the attack came as Russia reported another blaze on its energy infrastructure, this time at a gas terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga. Kyiv earlier this week claimed responsibility for two attacks on oil depots in Russia, including one in the same Leningrad region where Ust-Luga is located. Operator Novatek said there were no victims and that the fire was “currently localised” at the site, some 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of St Petersburg near the Estonian border.
