Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said at least 20 civilians were killed when a Russian glide bomb struck an eastern Ukrainian village, in the latest barrage from Moscow undermining any diplomatic momentum to end the war, now in its fourth year.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday the attack struck people waiting to collect pension payments in the village of Yarova, north of the urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk in the eastern region of Donetsk, where some of the war’s fiercest fighting has been taking place recently.
“A brutally savage Russian airstrike,” he said in a post on X. “Directly on people. Ordinary civilians… There are no words.”
A video in the post showed numerous bodies strewn on the ground, next to a damaged vehicle.
Russia has claimed Donetsk as its own despite not having complete control of the region, and Kyiv says the Kremlin has concentrated 100,000 troops at a key part of the front line for a renewed offensive.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched in February 2022, but thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Zelenskyy said the latest attack on civilians required a strong response from the international community, calling on Kyiv’s allies in the United States, Europe and other G20 nations to act.
“The Russians continue to destroy lives, but avoid new strong sanctions and new strong strikes,” he said. “Strong action is needed to stop Russia from bringing death.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has escalated attacks in Ukraine in the period following his summit with US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a peace deal to end the war,
Trump has threatened further sanctions on Russia if it does not comply, but so far has little to show for his efforts to end the war.
On Sunday, Russia battered Ukraine with the largest air attack since the war began, killing at least four people across the country and setting dozens of buildings on fire in the capital, Kyiv, including the main seat of the government, according to officials.
The strike was the first time the government headquarters had been hit in the three-and-a-half-year war, officials said.
Russian forces launched 810 drones and 13 missiles in the overnight attack on Sunday, Ukraine’s air force said, causing damage across the north, south and east of the country, including the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa, as well as in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
Kyiv has come under heavy attacks in the last month, with large numbers of civilians being killed.
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