Russia condemned on Sunday the Ukrainian attack on a market in Donetsk that left at least 25 dead and 20 injured. According to Moscow, it was a “barbaric act of terrorism” that “shows the need to achieve all the goals” of the invasion of Ukraine.
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As of Sunday afternoon, there was still uncertainty about the causes of the fire that broke out overnight at a gas terminal in Russia, a potential target of Ukrainian forces.
On the ground, the Russian army claimed to have captured a small town in the Kharkiv region, while Kiev, for its part, spoke of an advance without “strategic significance”.
The city of Donetsk in Donbass, around 20 kilometers from the front line and which came under the control of pro-Russian separatists led by Moscow in 2014, is a regular target of Ukrainian bombings.
AFP
On Sunday, an attack on a market in Kiev claimed one of the city's deadliest lives in several months.
Moscow-appointed regional director Denis Pouchiline reported at least 25 dead and 20 injured, “including two children.”
“People were screaming, a woman was crying. I saw smoke coming out, the windows of the shop were broken,” Tatiana, a resident of the area, told local Russian media.
“What is military here? “It's an ordinary market,” raged another Tatiana, who was present at the time of the attack.
AFP
Many bloodied bodies lay on the ground and shards of glass were scattered on the ground.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned “a barbaric terrorist attack against the civilian population” carried out with “six” artillery volleys from Avdiivka, the epicenter of the fighting and still under Kiev's control.
“The need to achieve all objectives” of the invasion of Ukraine “is obvious,” the ministry continued.
According to Moscow, the attack will also be on the agenda for talks by Russian diplomatic chief Sergei Lavrov in New York at the United Nations from Monday.