Death toll in Ukrainian strike on Donetsk rises – authorities

Two more bodies were recovered from the debris of a residential block, the mayor has said.

A Ukrainian artillery strike on the Russian city of Donetsk which took place on Saturday killed at least three people, according to the local authorities.

Writing on Telegram on Sunday, Mayor Aleksey Kulemzin said that while clearing the debris of a residential block in the northern Kievsky District, the body of a 30-year-old woman was found. Two hours later, he said that another body was uncovered from the rubble, describing the deceased as a man, but providing no further details.

The Emergencies Ministry of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) confirmed the information, adding that rescue operations are still underway.

A day earlier, Kulemzin stated that a 36-year-old man’s body was recovered from the rubble, noting that preliminary data indicates that up to five people could be stuck under the debris.

This came after the mayor said that 155mm-caliber rounds and ten missiles were fired at the city. Kulemzin said projectiles landed on several streets, hitting a four-story residential block among other buildings, destroying the roof.

The DPR and LPR, along with two other former Ukrainian regions, joined Russia following referendums last year.

The city of Donetsk has been shelled continuously by Ukrainian forces since 2014, when the DPR and the neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic refused to recognize the Western-backed coup in Kiev. The attacks intensified after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

In January, the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), which monitors attacks on the two Donbass regions, reported that since the large-scale hostilities broke out, Kiev’s strikes have killed more than 4,000 civilians in the DPR alone. The JCCC has put the death toll for the LPR for the same period at 169 civilians.