At least 3 killed, 9 injured by Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least three people were killed and nine injured in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Kharkiv regions by Russian shelling overnight, local authorities said Sunday.

“On Feb. 17, the Russians killed two residents of the Donetsk region — in Kramatorsk. 2 more people in the region were injured during the day,” Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Telegram that the bodies of two people were removed from the rubble of a destroyed building in Kramatorsk.

Saying that 28 personnel and six emergency services equipment units were involved in search and rescue operations in the area, the statement added that rescuers also extinguished two fires that started due to the shelling.

The emergency service also said that search and rescue operations are taking place in the city of Sloviansk, where a three-story school building was damaged.

A person may be under the rubble based on preliminary information, the service said, adding that its 23-person team extinguished a fire on an area of 100 square meters (1,076 square feet).

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov also said on Telegram that the body of a woman was removed from under the rubble of a two-story building in the city of Kupiansk.

He added said that five others were injured due to Russian strikes on the city, as well as two others in the village of Senkove.

​​​​​​​As the war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark, Moscow and Kyiv have exchanged accusations over airstrikes against each other that have intensified since December.​​​​​​​