Three killed in Russian strike on East Ukraine city

A Russian strike killed three people in a residential
district of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka on Saturday, the
regional governor said.

Fourteen other people were wounded in the attack, which also
damaged four apartment buildings and a hotel, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko
said.

“Rescuers and law enforcement officials are working at
the scene of the tragedy to help people and carefully document yet another
crime by the Russian occupiers on our land,” he wrote on Telegram.

Twisted metal and the charred remains of household items and
at least one car lay scattered across the courtyard as rescuers worked to clear
the rubble. Fresh bloodstains were also visible.

Factory worker Iryna Maltseva, 42, said she was watching
television when the explosion violently rattled her living room.

“I opened my eyes and everything was blown out,”
she said. “I was covered in blood. Mom was sitting in the bedroom, also
covered in blood.”

Earlier Saturday, Kyrylenko said at least four people had
been killed and seven wounded throughout the region from Russian strikes over
the past 24 hours.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday the situation at
the front remained “extremely acute,”, particularly in the Donetsk
region where Russia is stepping up an offensive.

Moscow invaded Ukraine last February but in recent weeks
fighting has slowed to an attritional battle with neither side making
significant gains.

Kyiv has repeatedly warned that Russian forces would attempt
to mount another offensive sometime in the coming weeks or months.