Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine
Reuters
A Russian double-tap missile attack killed at least five people and wounded 41 others, including four children, in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk on Monday, regional officials said.
“This is one of the largest enemy attacks on civilians recently,” Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
People stand near destroyed residential buildings at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region Ukraine, on 24th June, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Alina Smutko
Girls aged nine, 11, and 13, and a 12-year-old boy were injured, he added.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Ukraine would respond “in an absolutely fair manner” to the missile attack on Pokrovsk.
Petro, a local resident, was circling a smashed blue car, the driver’s seat soaked with blood, flowing into a vibrant red puddle. His son was killed while driving, and his grandson was hospitalised.
“My son, he is dead already, it’s done,” he said, weeping.
Six cars and 16 private houses were damaged, and one house was destroyed, Filashkin said.
Russian troops launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles at the town which is about 24 kilometres from the frontline, he added. The strikes were half an hour apart, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office said.
The attack left a huge crater in front of houses with shattered windows and smashed rooftops.
Olha, 58, was inside her house when the second missile landed.
“I already started running around here, confused, and I get out – there was such screaming after the second strike… a boy, passer-by likely, was lying covered in blood,” she told Reuters.
A person reacts next to a damaged car, where his son was killed, at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region Ukraine on 24th June, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Alina Smutko
The Pokrovsk sector has for some time been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting along the 1,000 kilometre front line stretching across eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Today, the hottest area is the Pokrovsk direction, where the aggressor continues attempts to break through our defence, the General Staff of the armed forces said on Monday, citing 45 enemy attacks in the area.
“The defence forces are taking measures to exhaust the Russian occupation troops and prevent their advance deep into Ukranian territory.”
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Meanwhile, a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa struck civilian infrastructure and injured at least three people, including a 19-year-old boy, on Monday morning, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.
The attack damaged a storage facility where some 50 people were working, military and regional authorities said. A massive cloud of smoke rose from the site where firefighters battled a fire, pictures published by the interior ministry showed.
The air force said it had prevented one of two cruise missiles launched by Russia from reaching the target.
Kiper said on national television that around 5,000 square metres had been damaged in the attack and that a fire had spread over 3,000 square metres.
Two middle-aged men in addition to the 19-year-old boy were taken to hospital, Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app.
The air force had warned the city’s residents of the threat of incoming missiles before the explosions sounded.
Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian forces in the 28-month-long full-scale invasion, with many attacks aimed at the city’s port facilities. Russia denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.