Russia Says One Killed, 41 Injured In East Ukraine Attack

Russia said Wednesday that one person was killed and another 41 injured, including two children, by Ukrainian fire in the east Ukraine town of Makiivka, controlled by Russian forces.

The Donetsk region has been partially occupied by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014 and its complete capture is Russia’s primarily military objective in Ukraine.

But the industrial territory is also now the focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive launched several weeks ago.

“Forty-one people have been injured due to the shelling, including two children. One person has died from their wounds,” Vladislav Klyucharov, the Russian-appointed head of the city’s administration said on Russia’s state-run broadcaster Rossiya-24.

Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed a Russian “formation” in Makiivka and released video showing a huge explosion lighting up the night sky and the silhouette of at least one building.

“Another formation of Russian terrorists in the temporarily occupied Makiivka ceased to exist,” Ukraine’s armed forces said in the statement late Tuesday, without giving further details.

The Russian-installed head of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, said Ukrainian forces had launched “fierce attacks” on residential areas and a hospital complex in Makiivka.

And Russia’s TASS news agency said nine healthcare facilities had been damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, citing Russian-installed officials in Donetsk.

The state-run agency released images of broken glass strewn on the floor of a medical facility and bookcases of records knocked over during the attack.

Klyucharov said some 40 houses had been damaged as well as several schools and two fire stations.

In January, Moscow conceded 89 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian attack on a temporary base in Makiivka. Kyiv and its allies estimated the death toll was higher.