A strike on a crowded market in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine left at least 25 people dead and 20 wounded on Sunday, Moscow-backed officials said. Both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of a sharp escalation in attacks on civilian areas in the past two months. Shattered storefronts and broken glass could be seen in videos shared by Russian state media, along with what appeared to be bodies lying on the ground nearby. \u201cAt the moment, information about 25 dead has been confirmed. At least 20 more people have been injured,\u201d said Denis Pushilin, head of the region\u2019s Russian-controlled administration. He blamed Ukraine for the strike, calling it a \u201chorrific\u201d attack on a civilian area. Ukraine did not immediately comment. Officials said the strike hit a southwestern suburb of the city, less than 15 kilometres from the eastern front. Local resident Tatiana said she heard an incoming projectile overhead, and hid under her market stall. \u201cI saw smoke, people screamed, a woman was crying,\u201d she told a local media outlet. \u201cWhere is there anything military here? It\u2019s just a market,\u201d another resident named Tatiana told the same outlet. \u201cThis is one of the strongest blows in recent times,\u201d she said. The toll marks one of the deadliest in Donetsk since Moscow launched full-scale hostilities against Ukraine in February 2022. Donetsk, occupied by Russia and its proxy forces since 2014, has been repeatedly targeted by what Moscow has called indiscriminate Ukrainian shelling. Moscow called Sunday\u2019s attack a \u201cbarbaric terrorist attack\u201d that showed the need for its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine. \u201cSecurity threats and acts of terrorism should not be committed from the territory of Ukraine,\u201d its foreign ministry said. A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia\u2019s largest liquefied natural gas producer, after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the company to suspend some operations there. The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek\u2019s website. The port is used to ship processed products to international markets. The Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fire was the result of a special operation carried out by Ukraine\u2019s security services. \u201cThe Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Len\u00adingrad region is an important facility for the enemy. Fuel is refined there, which, among other things, is also supplied to Russian troops,\u201d it cited one source as saying. \u201cA successful attack on such a terminal not only causes economic damage to the enemy, depriving the occupiers of the opportunity to earn money to wage war in Ukraine, but also significantly complicates the logistics of fuel for the Russian military.\u201d Alexander Drozdenko, the Leningrad region\u2019s governor, said on the Telegram messaging app, that there had been no casualties and that all workers had been safely evacuated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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