Russia’s airstrikes kill 3, injure 13 in east Ukraine, officials say

Russia launched several missile attacks on the town of Selydove in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region overnight, killing three people, injuring a dozen, and damaging a hospital and several apartments, Ukrainian officials said.

“Three civilians were killed (one of them a child),” the press service of the city’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram that 100 patients were evacuated to hospitals in nearby towns after a wing of the town’s hospital was damaged in one of several Russian strikes overnight.

He posted a video of windows blown out, walls ,torn and rubble inside what appeared to be a medical facility, with patients sitting or lying in beds.

Another strike destroyed several apartments in a five-story residential building and injured at least four people, including two children, Filashkin said.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports. There was no immediate response from Russia’s defense ministry to a request for comment.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in strikes on each other’s territories. Both sides say their air attacks, often away from the front line, have a goal to destroy critical energy, military and transport infrastructure.

The town of Selydove, which had a pre-war population of around 24,000, has come under increased Russian airstrikes in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have said.

The Donetsk region, 57% of which is now occupied by Russia, has been at the forefront of war since 2014, when Russian-backed proxies seized the region’s capital city, also called Donetsk, as well as many other large towns. – Rappler.com