A Russian strike on Tuesday in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region killed at least 24 people, Ukrainian authorities said, the latest deadly attack amid stalled peace efforts.
The aerial bombing hit the rural settlement of Yarova, roughly eight kilometers (five miles) from the front line. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack struck civilians at the moment state pension payments were being handed out.
“A brutally savage Russian airstrike… directly on people. Ordinary civilians,” Zelensky wrote in a social media post.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said 24 people were killed in the attack, while multiple other people were injured. The Ukrainian military said a Russian glide bomb was used in the strike.
Zelensky shared a video showing corpses scattered on the ground in Yarova, a burned-out minivan near a playground and personal belongings strewn across the area.
Yarova had a pre-war population of about 1,900 people. Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s postal service, confirmed one of its vehicles was damaged in the attack and an employee was hospitalized. Ukrposhta delivers state pension payments, including to frontline regions.
“Strong actions are needed to make Russia stop bringing death,” Zelensky said, urging responses from the United States, Europe and the G20.
Russia has been steadily advancing in Donetsk for months, concentrating firepower and deploying troops from other parts of the front. Authorities have urged civilians to flee the area since the early days of the invasion in February 2022.
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