At least 15 people were killed and another 20 are believed to be buried under rubble after Russian rockets struck an apartment building in Chasiv Yar, a town in eastern Ukraine, according to government officials.
The strike began late Saturday evening and affected apartment blocks in Chasiv Yar’s residential quarter, which is mostly populated by people who work in nearby factories.
Emergency services in Ukraine reported on Sunday that they have so far managed to free five people from the rubble and have made contact with three more who are still alive and trapped beneath the wreckage.
The town of Chasiv Yar, population 12,000, was reportedly struck by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region that includes Chasiv Yar.
One side of the five-storey building was ripped apart, leaving a mountain of rubble.
Russia has repeatedly claimed that it is only attacking military targets in the war. At a Russian Defense Ministry briefing on Sunday, there was no mention of Chasiv Yar.
Along with Luhansk, the Donetsk region is one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas region, where separatist rebels have been engaged in combat with Ukrainian forces since 2014.
