At least 11 killed in Russian strike on shopping centre in eastern Ukraine

9 August 2024, 15:15

At least 11 people have been killed in a Russian airstrike on a shopping centre in eastern Ukraine.

Some 45 people were injured in the missile strike on the large Ecomarket shop in the town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region.

A large fire that stretched for 1,000 square metres broke out after the Russian strike, Ukrainian authorities said. The emergency services managed to put out the fire.

The Ukrainian government accused Russia of terrorism after the attack, which is just the latest in a series of strikes by Kremlin forces on civilian facilities since the start of the war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia "would be held responsible for this terror".

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He added: "People are under the rubble. A rescue operation is underway and everything will be done to save people."

Mr Zelenskyy said that "we will do everything so that the world will continue to be with Ukraine, support our defence and save the lives of our people."

Local governor Vadim Filashkin said Russia was guilty of "a pre-meditated attack on a place where civilians gather".

Interior minister Igor Klimenko said: "The enemy strikes, we save and protect. Thanks to everyone who is close to the victims."

It comes as Ukrainian troops continue to fight in the Russian border region of Kursk, three days after the first incursion.

Ukraine's forces have reached the outskirts of the town of Sudzha, seven miles in from the border on the Russian side.

The Ukrainian government has not explained why it has launched the incursion, but some onlookers think that it is to deflect Russian troops, military equipment and attention from ongoing battles within Ukraine itself.

Ukrainian troops are said to have seized part of a gas pipeline that transports gas to Europe.

Although the gas has not stopped flowing, Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned gas giant, said that flow was down by 12% compared to the usual levels, leading to a rise in the price.

The Kremlin accused Britain of instigating and taking part in the attack.

Adalbi Shkhagoshev, a member of the State Duma Committee, told Russian state media: "Britain participated in all such sorties. English was heard."