At least eight civilians have been killed as a result of a series of attacks launched by Russian forces on the Ukrainian town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, according to local authorities, who have denounced that the shelling has hit non-military targets.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Presidency, Kirilo Timoshenko, has stated on Telegram that the shells have hit a market, a bus station and several residential buildings, among other places. In addition to the fatalities, authorities are aware of at least five injuries.
Tymoshenko assured that the Russian Armed Forces have used cluster bombs in this area, a type of weaponry prohibited by International Law due to its indiscriminate effects on the civilian population, both immediately and in the medium and long term – in the case of unexploded munitions.
Donetsk is one of the main battlefronts between Russian and Ukrainian troops. Moscow claims sovereignty over this and three other regions of eastern Ukraine by virtue of referendums that neither Kiev nor much of the international community recognizes.
