More than 20 people have been killed in a Russian air strike on a village in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelensky has said, citing initial reports.
The victims were ordinary people collecting their pensions in the Donetsk settlement of Yarova, he stated. Donetsk regional leader Vadym Filkashkin confirmed that emergency services were on-site and indicated that the number of injured matches that of the fatalities.
Yarova, situated north of Sloviansk, is one of the prominent locations in the region and lies in proximity to the front lines where Russian forces are slowly advancing.
If confirmed, this incident would represent one of the most severe attacks on Ukrainian civilians in the current conflict, now 42 months into Russia's full-scale invasion.
At least 23 individuals were reported killed during recent overnight air strikes in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, prior to this attack. The weekend saw Russia executing its most significant air assault on Kyiv to date, striking the key government building, which Zelensky condemned as a ruthless action meant to prolong the war.
Zelensky, sharing graphic footage of the Yarova attack online, expressed that words fail to convey the gravity of these recent assaults. He called for immediate responses from the United States, Europe, and the G20 nations, declaring, The world must not remain silent.
