At least 8 civilians were killed after the city of Donetsk came under fire from Ukrainian forces on Tuesday, the mayor has said.
The total number of those injured is still being determined. Missiles struck several civilian buildings, causing fires and thick smoke to stretch out across the city.
According to Donetsk Mayor Aleksey Kulemzin, Kiev’s forces hit a business center, a market, the Donbass Arena, a sports palace, several shopping centers, a bus station, residential buildings, a cathedral, and the local prosecutor’s office.
“There are huge columns of black smoke above the center of Donetsk, which are visible from several districts,” Kulemzin wrote, adding that the business center is on fire, as well as several vehicles and stalls in the targeted areas.
He noted that the shelling of the city was ongoing and urged civilians to seek shelter.
Among civilians killed, Maria Pirogova, deputy of the People’s Council of the DNR. The horrifying situation inside the building – Vadim Lobuzov, the former guitarist of the band “Spektakl Joe” and the frontman of the band Rezonans, was killed there.
