Two people were killed, up to 27 were wounded and extensive material damage was caused in an attack by Russian forces on a shopping mall and market in Dobropilja, a town near the front line, officials said today, Reuters reports.
Vadim Filashkin, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said a 500-kilogram bomb was dropped at 17:20 p.m., when many people were shopping.
He said two people were killed and 22 injured, while eight nearby apartment buildings and eight cars were destroyed. Videos posted online showed the area around the shopping mall in flames, with thick smoke rising into the sky.
"Firefighters are extinguishing the fire because there is a possibility that someone is still inside the shopping mall. The occupier threw the bomb at a time when Dobropilja was full of people. Many were shopping. The occupier deliberately targeted the shopping mall. All nearby shopping malls were either destroyed or damaged," Filashkin told Ukrainian television.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said the number of wounded was 27.
Filashkin previously stated that around 30 trade stands were damaged.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in his regular evening video address, described the attack as "simply horrible, stupid Russian terror."
"Their strikes have no military logic, only the desire to kill as many people as possible," Zelensky said.
Dobropilya is located northwest of Pokrovskoye, the focal point of a months-long slow advance by Russian forces into western Donetsk Oblast. In March, an attack on Dobropilya with rockets, missiles and drones killed 11 people, including five children.
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