According to reports, an assault on Donetsk in Russian-occupied Ukraine claimed at least 27 lives

KYIV, Ukraine: According to authorities stationed in Moscow, Ukrainian shelling on Sunday at a market at the edge of Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine under Russian occupation, resulted in at least 27 fatalities and 25 injuries.

Two children were among the wounded in the Tekstilshchik area, according to the local leader Denis Pushilin.

The statements could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press, and Kyiv-based Ukrainian authorities remained silent about the event. In the almost two-year-old battle, both sides have become more dependent on longer-range strikes this winter while maintaining mostly stable positions along the 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line.

According to Pushilin, the artillery rounds that struck the region were launched from the Kurakhove and Krasnohorivka area to the west. Emergency services also arrived to the incident.

As to a UN spokeswoman, 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,” and further states that these attacks are forbidden under IHL.

A few months after Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in 2022, Russia unlawfully seized four districts of that country, including Donetsk.

Additionally, Russia’s Foreign Ministry labeled the assault as a “terrorist attack” and placed the responsibility on Ukraine.

Following two explosions on Sunday, a fire broke out at a chemical shipment terminal at the Ust-Luga port in Russia, according to local authorities. According to local media, Ukrainian drones assaulted the Baltic Sea port, which is located 165 kilometers (about 100 miles) southwest of St. Petersburg, causing a gas tank to burst.

The fire occurred at a location managed by Novatek, the second-biggest natural gas producer in Russia.

The firm said activities at the port were suspended and attributed the fire to a “external influence” in a statement sent to the Russian media source RBC.

The port is situated in the Kingisepp region on the Gulf of Finland, and its director, Yuri Zapalatsky, said that although there were no injuries, the area was under high alert.

Two drones were seen heading into St. Petersburg on Sunday morning, but they were rerouted toward the Kingisepp neighborhood, according to news site Fontanka. The reports could not be independently verified by AP.