At least 27 killed in attack on Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Deadly attack on Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine

At least 27 people were killed on Sunday by shelling at a market on the outskirts of the city of Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine, local officials reported.

Moscow-installed officials claimed the alleged Ukrainian attack wounded 25 others. 

Among the injured in the suburb of Tekstilshchik were two children, said Denis Pushilin, the local leader.

Ukrainian officials in Kyiv did not comment on the incident. 

Euronews could not independently verify these claims. 

Both sides have increasingly relied on longer-range attacks this winter amid largely unchanged positions on the 1,500km front line in the nearly 2-year-old war.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including today’s shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine,” according to a U.N. spokesperson, adding that all such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine that Russia annexed illegally in 2022, months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also blamed Ukraine and described the strike as a “terrorist attack.”

Explosion at Russian energy facility

A fire broke out at a chemical transport terminal at Russia’s Ust-Luga port on Sunday, following two explosions, regional officials said. 

Local media said the Baltic Sea port, 165 km southwest of St. Petersburg, was attacked by Ukrainian drones, causing a gas tank to explode.

The blaze was at a site run by Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek.

In a statement to Russian media outlet RBC, the company blamed the fire on an “external influence,” saying operations at the port were paused.

Yuri Zapalatsky, the head of the Kingisepp district on the Gulf of Finland where the port is located, said there were no casualties, but the area was on high alert.

News outlet Fontanka reported that two drones had been detected flying toward St. Petersburg on Sunday morning, but were redirected toward the Kingisepp district. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not report any drone activity in the Kingisepp area in its daily briefing. It said that four Ukrainian drones had been downed in Russia’s Smolensk region, and that two more were shot down in the Oryol and Tula regions.

Zelenskyy calls Trump’s rhetoric about Ukraine war ‘dangerous’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was worried at the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House, branding Trump’s claim that he could stop Ukraine’s war with Russia in 24 hours as “very dangerous.”

In an interview with the UK’s Channel 4 New, Zelenskyy invited the former president and front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination to visit Kyiv, but only if Trump delivers on his promise.

“Donald Trump, I invite you to Ukraine, to Kyiv. If you can stop the war during [sic] 24 hours, I think it will be enough to come,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The Ukrainian leader also shared his concern about the US taking unilateral action that failed to consider Ukraine’s perspective, noting the dearth of details around Trump’s “peace plan.”

Zelenskyy described the former president’s rhetoric as “very dangerous” and appeared apprehensive that Trump’s idea of a negotiated solution might involve Ukraine making major concessions to Russia.

“(Trump) is going to make decisions on his own, without… I’m not even talking about Russia, but without both sides, without us,” Zelenskyy said. “If he says this publicly, that’s a little scary. I’ve seen a lot, a lot of victims, but that’s really making me a bit stressed.”

He added: “Because even if his idea (for ending the war) – that no one has heard yet – doesn’t work for us, for our people, he will do anything to implement his idea anyway. And this worries me a little.”

Trump has repeatedly insisted that he is well-positioned to negotiate an end to the war that has raged for almost two years, saying he has a good relationship with both Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Throughout his political career, he has frequently lavished praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin, including after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.