Officials say the town near the eastern front line was hit by two Iskander-M missiles fired 30 minutes apart.
At least five people were killed and 41 injured, including four children, after Russia launched two missiles at the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.
“This is one of the largest enemy attacks on civilians recently,” regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
Three girls – aged 9, 11 and 13 – and a 12-year-old boy were injured, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his evening video address, said Ukraine would respond to the attack “in an absolutely fair way.”
Petro, a local resident, was traveling in a badly damaged blue car, with the driver’s seat soaked in blood. His son died at the wheel and his grandson was taken to the hospital. “My son, he’s already dead, it’s done,” he said, crying.
Six cars and 16 homes were damaged and one house was destroyed, Filashkin said.
Russian troops launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at the city, which is about 24 km from the front line, he added. The attacks occurred half an hour apart, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said.
‘Boom’
The attack left a huge crater, with nearby houses in ruins; their windows were destroyed and roofs destroyed. The city had a population of around 61,000 before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Nikolay Kurilov said he was watering flowers in his garden when the first missile landed less than 500 meters away.
“And boom. I almost fell,” the 70-year-old told AFP news agency.
“And about 15 minutes later, there was another boom. We started calling relatives.”
In recent weeks, Moscow has focused its firepower on the Donetsk industrial region in eastern Ukraine, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia.
The area around Pokrovsk has been the scene of some of the most intense fighting along the 1,000 km (600 mile) front line in recent months, with the Russians advancing towards the city after capturing Avdiivka in February.
“Today, the hottest area is the direction of Pokrovsk, where the aggressor continues to try to break through our defenses,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Monday, citing 45 enemy attacks in the vicinity.
“The defense forces are taking measures to exhaust the Russian occupation troops and prevent their advance deep into Ukrainian territory.”
Separately, Filashkin said a 62-year-old man was killed in a Russian bomb attack in the town of Kurakhove, south of Pokrovsk. He said Russian forces also killed a 63-year-old civilian in the city of Toretsk, where Moscow troops intensified attacks after a prolonged lull.
Russia claimed to have annexed Donetsk in late 2022, along with three other regions of Ukraine that it had partially occupied.
Parts of Donetsk have been controlled by Kremlin-backed armed groups since 2014.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
