Moscow on Thursday accused Kyiv of attacking a busy market in Russian-controlled southern Ukraine in a drone strike it said had killed at least seven civilians and wounded more than 20, while Kyiv said the attack had killed only military personnel.
Reuters could not verify either side’s assertions.
Vladimir Saldo, the region’s Russian-installed governor, said the drones had struck a market in the town of Oleshky at about 9.30am on what was a public holiday.
He and two social media users released videos purporting to show some of the incident. Reuters confirmed the location as Oleshky, but could not independently verify when they were filmed.
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One of the videos showed an explosion going off beside one in a group of low-slung buildings. Another video shows at least two bodies lying on the ground beside the structure; it was not possible to tell who they were.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, said Kyiv had targeted Russian troops in part of Kherson region controlled by Moscow and that only military personnel, and not civilians, had been killed.
Russia’s foreign ministry called on the international community to condemn what it said was an act of terrorism.
“After the first strikes, which had already resulted in casualties, the enemy launched a second drone raid, during which they mercilessly killed the survivors and attacked the rescuers who had arrived,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This is yet another bloody war crime.”
Local Russian-installed official Sergei Cherevko said about 30 Ukrainian drones had struck the market in four different attack waves, according to state media.
Mr Cherevko alleged Ukrainian forces had used cluster munitions against ambulances gathering at the scene and said two people had been killed - contradicting the death toll of seven given by Mr Saldo and the Russian foreign ministry.
Reuters has requested clarification from Mr Saldo.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of deliberately targeting civilians in the course of the war, now well into its fourth year, something both sides deny.
Civilian casualties have been far higher on the Ukrainian side. Russian strikes last month which Moscow said had been aimed at military targets killed 19 people in the city of Kryvyi Rih, 35 in Sumy and 12 in the capital Kyiv.
Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 15 more, in addition to sparking fires and damaging infrastructure, emergency services said.
“The enemy attack damaged residential high-rises, private houses, a supermarket, a school and cars,” regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Fires broke out in some places and are being extinguished by our rescuers.”
Ukraine’s state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said the overnight attack also damaged its tracks, the contact network and three freight cars.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched five ballistic missiles and 170 drones during the overnight attack.
The air force shot down 74 drones while another 68 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, it said.
It did not specify what happened to the missiles or remaining 28 drones.
Videos posted by Mr Kiper showed heavily damaged facade of a high-rise building, a shopfront with shattered windows and firefighters battling flames at one of the sites in the city.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a drone had struck a petrol station in the city centre, causing a fire. – Reuters
