MOSCOW: Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of carrying out a missile strike on a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Denis Pushilin, who heads the parts of Donetsk region controlled by Russia, said on Telegram that he had “confirmed information” that four people were injured in the attack in the region’s main city, also named Donetsk.
He accused the Ukrainian army of firing US-supplied HIMARS missiles into the area during the morning rush hour.
Russian state news agency RIA earlier quoted investigators as saying two people had been killed and two wounded. Ukraine’s general staff, in a statement, did not refer to the supermarket incident but said it had conducted strikes this week in the Donetsk region and had taken all necessary measures to limit the risk to civilians.
The strike smashed the facade of the two-storey “Moloko” (Milk) supermarket, leaving shattered glass all around and burnt-out cars nearby.
Dashcam footage posted by a driver nearby appeared to show the moment the store was hit, triggering a large explosion and sending flames soaring into the sky.
Pushilin also said that Ukrainian artillery fire had struck an apartment building in Svitlodarsk, farther north in Donetsk, killing two people and wounding eight.
The Ukrainian statement said Kyiv’s forces had conducted a precise strike on a Russian command post in Svitlodarsk.
Ukraine strikes on occupied Donetsk kill three
Ukraine’s Suspilne public broadcaster quoted prosecutors as saying Russian shelling killed one person and wounded another in the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistics centre in Donetsk region, where advancing Russian forces have been closing in.
Both sides say they do not target civilians in the war, now nearing the end of its third year. But thousands have been killed, the overwhelming majority of them Ukrainians.
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