Russia says, 25 killed in blast at Donetsk market after Ukrainian shelling

Moscow [Russia]: At least 25 people were killed and 20 others were injured, after a deadly blast at a market on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, Al Jazeera reported, citing Moscow officials.

At least 25 people have been killed and 20 others injured after a market on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk was shelled, local authorities said.

Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian authorities in Donetsk, alleged that the blast occurred after shelling by the Ukrainian military in the suburb of Tekstilshchik.

Pushilin said that the area had been hit by 155mm calibre and 152mm calibre artillery and that the shells had been fired from the direction of Kurakhove and Krasnohorivka to the west.

“These terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime clearly demonstrate its lack of political will towards achieving peace and the settlement of this conflict by diplomatic means,” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

However, there was no immediate comment from Ukraine, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Notably, Moscow-backed groups have controlled the south-eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known collectively as the Donbas, for almost 10 years, according to Al Jazeera.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised them in 2022, after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. This received sharp condemnation by many countries at the UN General Assembly who called the “annexation” as “illegal”.

Separately on Sunday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the country’s forces had taken control of the village of Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region.

Volodymyr Fityo, spokesperson for Ukrainian Ground Forces Command, told reporters that Kyiv’s forces had withdrawn from the area.

Fityo said that Krokhmalne had a population of roughly 45 people before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, as Russia’s war in Ukraine nears its two-year mark, both Moscow and Kyiv’s forces have continued to fight from largely static positions along the roughly 1,500km (930-mile) front line throughout the winter, Al Jazeera reported.

Recent Russian attacks have also tried to find gaps in Ukraine’s defences by using large numbers of various types of missiles in an apparent effort to saturate air defence systems.