At least 11 people, including five children, were killed by a Russian missile attack in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to the regional governor.
Eight people were also injured when Russian missiles hit the area, Vadym Filashkin, governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, said Saturday.
“The main blow was dealt by Pokrovsk and Rivne in the Myrnograd community,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
He said S-300 missiles had been used in a series of attacks, with one hitting the home of a family of six.
Filashkin posted photos showing rescue workers working through the rubble after the bombing. He said the attack showed that Russian forces were “trying to inflict as much pain as possible on our land.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his evening video address, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and accused Russia of deliberately attacking civilian targets once again.
“And Russia must feel – feel every time – that none of these attacks will end without consequences for the terrorist state,” Zelenskyy said.
The city of Pokrovsk, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the front line, had already been hit by a deadly bombardment last August, which left at least eight dead and 82 wounded.
Attack on Crimea
Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine’s military claimed to have successfully attacked the Saki military air base in the west of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
“Saki Airfield! All objectives were achieved! “Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.
Russian officials did not comment on the alleged attack, but Russia’s Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Saturday that it had successfully shot down four Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula overnight.
Later on Saturday, the ministry reported that its air defense forces had shot down six anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.
Ukraine has targeted Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, since the start of Moscow’s large-scale offensive in February 2022.
North Korean missiles?
Meanwhile, as Russia’s nearly two-year war in Ukraine continues, the Kharkiv region’s prosecutor’s office on Saturday provided evidence that Russia attacked Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea, displaying the fragments.
Russia attacked Kharkiv with several missiles this week, killing two people and wounding more than 60 in one of its largest missile and drone attacks since the start of the war.
“The production method is not very modern. There are deviations from the standard Iskander missiles, which we saw earlier during the attacks on Kharkiv. “This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Dmytro Chubenko, spokesman for the prosecution, told the media while showing the remains.
He said the missile had a slightly larger diameter than the Russian Iskander missile, while its nozzle, internal electrical windings and rear parts were also different.
On Friday, the United States said Russia is using ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking short-range ballistic missiles from Iran.
in a publish in X On Friday, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps warned: “The world has turned its back on Russia, forcing Putin to the humiliation of going hat-in-hand to North Korea to continue his illegal invasion. “In doing so, Russia has violated multiple UN Security Council resolutions and has put the security of another region of the world at risk.”
UN Security Council resolutions – passed with Russian support – prohibit countries from trading weapons or other military equipment with North Korea.
While the Kremlin has yet to comment on recent evidence, relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un have improved in recent months, and the two leaders also met in person in Russia in September. past.
