At least eight people, including a toddler, have been killed in a Russian missile attack on a residential area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk.
The attack on the quiet neighborhood on Friday came as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that will make it easier to mobilize civilians into the military and prevent them from fleeing the country if called upon.
Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told national television that seven Russian S-300 missiles had been fired at Sloviansk, west of the city of Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest fighting on the Ukrainian frontline.
“As of now, there have been casualties in all locations – 21 people were injured and eight people died,” Kyrylenko said on national television.
Kyrylenko said “no fewer than seven spots had been hit” in Sloviansk, west of the city of Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest fighting on the Ukrainian frontline.
Ukrainian police said on Twitter that a child died in an ambulance after being pulled from the rubble.
Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska said the child was a two-year-old boy and offered her condolences to the family during this “indescribable grief”.
“The malignant state once again demonstrates its essence,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a message accompanied by images of a damaged building.
“Just kill people in broad daylight. Ruin all life, destroy it.”
Shocked residents
Ukrainian police said 10 buildings were damaged in the attack. They said the top two floors of a five-story building had collapsed after the attack and a fire had broken out across the site.
Rescue teams combed through the stricken area.
“I live across the street and I was sleeping a bit when I heard a huge bang and I ran out of my flat,” 59-year-old resident Larisa told AFP news agency.
“I was really scared and in a state of shock,” she said, adding that the impact of the shelling had broken her windows and sent shards of glass flying around her house.
“I heard a woman scream, ‘Here’s a child, here’s a child.’ She was so screaming.”
Putin signs conscription bill
More than a year after Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine, fears circulated in Russia that the government was planning a new mobilization campaign after a bill rushed through parliament this week to create a digital design system.
Under the legislation, which Putin signed on Friday, a conscript would be prohibited from traveling abroad and would be required to report to a recruiting office once the electronic call-up documents are received.
Last year, tens of thousands of men fled Russia after Putin announced a mobilization to support the armed forces in Ukraine.
The attack on Sloviansk, which many residents have fled since Russia’s invasion, came as Moscow said it was pushing to take more districts of devastated Bakhmut.
Despite having little strategic value, the city has become a fixation of military commanders, leading to a brutal nine-month war of attrition.
“Wagner strike units are conducting high-intensity combat operations to capture the western districts of the city,” the Russian army said in a statement, referring to the private paramilitary group.
Russian airborne troops “provide support to assault units and stopped enemy attempts to bring ammunition into the city and bring in reserves,” it added.
On Thursday, Moscow claimed to have cut off Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut. Kiev denied the claim, saying it had access to its troops and could send ammunition. Ukraine has promised to continue to defend Bakhmut.