At least seven people, including five civilians, have been killed in an attack on the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk. After the attack early on Monday evening, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow had struck an “ordinary residential building”. A nearby hotel and a pizzeria used by correspondents were also damaged in the strike although it is understood that few would have been staying at the time of the strike as concerns about the potential risk of a strike on the city, which is close to the frontline, had been circulating.
Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko put the number of wounded at 81, including 39 civilians, 31 policemen, seven employees of the state emergency service and four military personnel. Two children were among those injured. Donetsk is one of the regions of Ukraine which Russia partially occupies and claimed to unilaterally annex late in 2022.
The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned the Pokrovst strikes, saying it violates any principle of humanity. She said “It is absolutely ruthless to hit the same location twice in the space of minutes, causing the death and injury of people who had quickly come to help the survivors. They are frontline responders, helping people in their most difficult times. This horrifying attack is certainly a serious breach of international humanitarian law and violates any principle of humanity”. Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday said Russian forces had hit a Ukrainian command post.
