At least 28 people, including nine women and a child, were killed in an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on a bakery and restaurant, Russia said on Sunday. Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine With missiles supplied by the West.
Ukraine hit a bakery in the city of Lisichansk at 12:30 (EUR 07:30) on Saturday, Russian-backed officials said. Highly Mobile Artillery Missile System (HIMARS) supplied by the US.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the attack. Reuters could not immediately specify what weapons were used in the attack.
Emergency workers spent the night searching for survivors under the rubble of the Adriatic restaurant on Moskva Street.
“Ukrainian armed forces opened fire on a bakery in Lisichansk,” said Leonid Pasechnik, Russia’s appointed head. Luhansk region, which is currently under the control of Russian forces.
Pasechnik said that when the bakery was hit, it was full of civilians. The Ministry of Emergencies of Russia said that 10 people were rescued from the rubble.
But the ministry said the condition of four others was “extremely serious” and that it was still searching for people.
After P. Russia took control of the territories in the east of Ukraineresident Vladimir Putin In February 2022, he ordered the invasion, which led to the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
Russia now controls about 18% of its neighbor and considers the lands it owns part of Russia. Ukraine and the West say they will never accept it annexation of that territory.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack by Ukraine and said that the West should think about why it was done Financial support to Kyiv used to kill civilians.
“According to preliminary information, the attack was carried out using Western weapons,” said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“EU citizens need to know how their taxes are being used – they are being used to buy lethal weapons systems and send them to the Kiev regime, which is using them to kill civilians.”
Reuters was able to confirm the location of the video shared by the Russian Emergencies Ministry from the design and color of the destroyed building and a sign that matched file images of the area. It corresponds to a location identified on Google Maps as Adriatic Restaurant on Moskovska Street, Lysichansk.
However, Reuters could not independently verify the date of the footage from the territory, which Russia annexed in July 2022 after months of fierce fighting, or any other details of the report.
According to Ukrainian officials, only one-tenth of Lisichansk’s pre-war population of 110,000 remains in the city.
Although Ukraine recaptured some of its territory from Russian forces in 2022, its 2023 counterattacks failed to make any significant dents in entrenched Russian lines. A dispute between Kiev’s Western supporters About how Ukraine should fight.
According to Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, Russian forces have seized 56 square miles of Ukrainian territory in the past month.