Ukrainian officials reported that a couple of Russian missiles striking the city of Kramatorsk and a nearby village on Tuesday have claimed the lives of nine people, including three children. As many as 56 people were injured in the aftermath of the missile strikes, reported The Guardian.
"At the epicenter of the explosion were also apartment buildings, commercial premises, cars, a post office and other buildings, in which windows, glass and doors were blown out," said the Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
Dozens of people were seen being pulled out of the rubble, CNN reported citing an eyewitness at the incident. According to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of Donetsk region military administration, the missiles struck at 7:30pm (local time) on Tuesday.
Another missile hit the nearby village of Bilenke, as per Andriy Yermak, adviser to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Following the strike in Kramatorsk, Zelenskyy said it was a "manifestation of terror" and said that a tribunal should be set up for alleged crimes in the ensuing Russian-Ukraine war. He also thanked US President Joe Biden for granting a new USD 500 million security assistance package to Ukraine.
This comes shortly after Russia deals with a short-lived insurrection by the chief of the mercenary force Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Friday. Prigozhin had called for an armed rebellion to oust the military leadership before striking a deal with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Notably, the Wagner group had played a crucial role in the Russia-Ukraine war, capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
