At least two dead and several injured in an attack on the city market, local authorities say, while the mayor is asking residents to stay at the shelters.
At least two people have been killed and seven others injured when Russian forces hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, according to local authorities, while Moscow is stepping up its assault on the Donbas region.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, which includes Sloviansk, told the Telegram instant messaging service on Tuesday that two people had been killed and seven others injured in a bombing that, according to the mayor, affected the market. the city.
It was not immediately clear what ammunition had been used in the attack on the front-line city in the Donetsk region, nor how many people had been on the market when it was hit.
“Once again, the Russians are intentionally targeting places where civilians gather. This is pure and simple terrorism,” Kyrylenko told Telegram, urging residents to evacuate.
Police said the market had been closed during the day, but that some shops were still open when it was run over.
“Together with the police we are documenting the bombing of the city,” prosecutor Oleksandr Bakumenko, who was on the market after the attack and wearing a vest that said “war crimes investigator,” told Reuters news agency “.
Slovakia Mayor Vadym Lyakh told Facebook that the city had been heavily bombed and urged residents to stay in the shelters.
“Sloviansk! Massive bombing of the city. The center, the north. Everyone, take refuge,” Lyakh wrote on Facebook.
He said the bombing damaged 40 houses on Monday.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly urged residents of Slovenia to leave the region as the front line approaches the city after Russia took Severodonetsk and Lysychansk from the neighboring Lugansk region.
The Russian bombing has killed at least six people and injured 19 more since Sunday in the pre-war city of about 100,000.
Russia has secured almost complete control of the neighboring Lugansk region. Sloviansk and the Kramatorsk regional administrative center remain under Ukrainian control and are next in Russia’s sights as it seeks to conquer the eastern Donbas region.
He has fired several missile salvos at Sloviansk in recent days.
In 2014, Russian-backed separatists briefly seized Sloviansk.
Tuesday was the eighth anniversary of Ukraine’s recapture of Sloviansk from Russian proxy forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
In a residential neighborhood on the other side of town, several houses were damaged and firefighters were tackling the flames of a burning house where a missile hit Tuesday afternoon.
Lifeguards said at least two people had been taken to hospital after the missile impact.
Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a briefing that Russian forces were focusing their efforts on the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, firing artillery along the entire front line.
He said the Ukrainian army was trying to prevent Russia from preparing to launch an assault on Sloviansk.
Russia has denied attacks on civilians since invading Ukraine on February 24. Ukraine says Russia has been using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles to strike military and critical infrastructure, killing many civilians in raids.