A market on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk was struck by shelling, resulting in at least 25 fatalities and 20 injuries, according to local authorities. Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian-installed authorities in Donetsk, attributed the strike in the suburb of Tekstilshchik to the Ukrainian military.
Pushilin reported that the area was hit by artillery shells of 155mm and 152mm calibers, believed to have been fired from the direction of Kurakhove and Krasnohorivka, located to the west. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack in a statement, labeling it a “terrorist attack” by the Kyiv regime and a clear indication of Ukraine’s reluctance to seek a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Ukraine has yet to comment on the incident.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas, have been under the control of Moscow-backed separatists for nearly a decade. The annexation of these regions by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022 was widely denounced as illegal by the international community.
In a separate development, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced the capture of the village of Krokhmalne in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Ukrainian spokesperson Volodymyr Fityo confirmed the withdrawal of Kyiv’s forces from the area, which had a pre-invasion population of about 45 people.
