Russia: Ukraine hits shopping center in airstrike

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On Friday, Russian officials said the Kiev army had attacked a shopping mall in the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Donetsk region, wounding at least seven people.

Pictures showed a major fire in a shopping center, with thick, gray smoke rising from the building.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed governor of Donetsk, said in a Telegram post: “The enemy has carried out targeted, massive attacks on the Petrovsky district,” on the outskirts of Donetsk, which is under Russian control.

An attack hit the Galaktika shopping mall and injured at least seven people, he said.

Information about the injured continues to come in, Pushilin said, adding that the fire had covered an area of ​​more than 10,000 square meters.

Russian forces control parts of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where the heaviest fighting of the conflict has taken place.

In 2022, Russia claimed to annex the region despite not having complete control over it, sparking outrage in Kyiv and the West.

Attacks and casualties on both sides of the front in Donetsk are commonplace.

At least 14 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on a supermarket in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region last week, Ukrainian officials said.

bur/db