KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) – Russian rockets hit the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, destroying a five-storey apartment building and killing at least 10 people, officials said yesterday.
Governor of the Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble. Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage, he said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Ukrainian emergency services initially gave a death toll of six, but later said it has risen to 10. They did not say how many people may still be in the rubble.
Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems. Chasiv Yar is about 20 kilometres southeast of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a major target of Russian forces as they grind westward.
The Donetsk region is one of two provinces along with Luhansk that make up the Donbas region, where separatist rebels have fought Ukrainian forces since 2014. Last week, Russia captured the city of Lysychansk, the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk.
Russian forces are raising “true hell” in the Donbas, despite assessments they were taking an operational pause, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said on Saturday.
