Russia bombed a pizzeria in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday night, killing eight people and injuring dozens, Ukraine’s emergency services said Wednesday.
“The bodies of eight dead people (including three children … ) were unblocked from the rubble of the destroyed cafe building,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) said, adding that 56 people were injured in the blast.
“Rescuers are dismantling the rubble of the destroyed building and searching for people who are likely to be under the rubble,” the SES said.
Several other cities in the eastern Donbas region were targeted in the attack, killing another person, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk military administration.
“The Russians fired two missiles” in Kramatorsk, with one destroying the pizzeria building, Kyrylenko said.
Located west of the front line in Donbas, in Ukraine-controlled territory, Kramatorsk is a key city in the region.
It has been targeted by Russian forces as they seek to seize the entire region. In April 2022, more than 50 people were killed in the shelling of the Kramatorsk train station, which was being used by civilians to flee from combat areas.
Russia’s pizzeria strike came as Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive is off to a “slower than desired” start — though Kyiv says it has liberated several villages in the south.
