Seven Killed In Attack On Eastern Ukraine Town

At least seven people have been killed in a Russian missile attack on residential buildings in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk,

Officials say two missiles hit the town the second as rescuers were searching for victims of the first.

Dozens of people were injured, including two children police officers, and rescuers.

Meanwhile, rescue efforts are continuing.

Pavlo Krylenko, the head of the Donetsk region, said the first strike killed five civilians, and that an official from the emergency services was killed in the second strike. A person who works in the military also died.

He added that the buildings which were “destroyed and damaged” were “high-rise buildings, private houses, administrative buildings, catering establishments, and a hotel.”

“Russia is a terrorist state. And she must be punished for her crimes!” he added in a post on Telegram.

According to other Ukrainian officials, the second missile struck 40 minutes after the first, killing and wounding rescuers as they searched for survivors in the ruins of what Mr Zelensky described as an “ordinary residential building.”

He published a video of a five-story building that had its top floor destroyed.

Amid scenes of general chaos and confusion, it showed civilians clearing away rubble, and rescuers helping people into ambulances.

Kateryna, a resident who was injured in the first attack, said she was at home when the missile struck.

“The flame filled up my eyes. I fell down on the floor, on the ground. My eyes hurt a lot, otherwise, I am ok, just the shrapnel in my neck.”

Pokrovsk lies about 70km northwest of Donetsk City, which is occupied by Russian forces. Before the war, it had a population of around 60,000 people.

Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, said at least two civilians were also killed when Russian guided bombs hit “private houses” in the Kharkiv Region on Monday evening.

Five people were injured in those strikes, he said.

BBC/Christopher Ojilere