Russian invasion
Market square shot at: Many dead in eastern Ukrainian city
After the shelling of a market square in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostyantynivka, rescue workers extinguish a fire. photo
© Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/dpa
The city of Kostyantynivka is not far from the front in eastern Ukraine and has repeatedly been the target of Russian attacks. Now there has been particularly brutal shelling in broad daylight.
By Russian shelling of a market square in the eastern Ukrainian city According to official information, at least 16 people were killed in Kostjantynivka. “There is also a child among them,” Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal said on Telegram. More than 30 other people were injured, according to the authorities.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also confirmed the Russian attack and the many fatalities in the city in the Donetsk region. “A normal market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who have done nothing wrong,” he wrote, expressing his condolences to the victims’ families. The number of victims could continue to rise. Selenskyj spoke of the “impudence of evil”.
The head of state also released a short video intended to show the moment of the explosion in the busy neighborhood. He also showed photos of damaged house facades, pools of blood on the ground and rescue workers extinguishing the flames. It was initially unclear what exactly hit the projectile. Some local media assumed an S-300 missile.
EU condemns attack
The EU strongly condemned the attack. A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels that she was also calling on Russia to stop its inhumane and illegal aggression immediately. “Deliberate attacks on civilians are war crimes. All commanders, perpetrators and accomplices of these atrocities will be held accountable.”
Kostyantynivka is just under 20 kilometers southwest of the town of Bakhmut, which the Russians occupied a few months ago as part of their war of aggression, and has repeatedly been the target of Russian attacks. In July, Ukraine accused Russia of using a cluster bomb in Kostyantynivka, killing a child. Even before that, civilians were repeatedly killed by Russian attacks in the Ukrainian-controlled city.