A Russian strike hit houses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Saturday. Dozens of rescuers are searching for several people who may still be alive under the rubble. Kramatorsk is the last major city in Donbass under Ukrainian control.
A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk hit homes on Saturday, with rescuers searching for several people who may be under the rubble, the regional governor said. AFP journalists on site saw rescuers carrying away a body in a body bag, while others cleared the rubble.
A city, target of repeated attacks
According to Governor Vadym Filachkine, a family of four, including teenagers aged 14 and 16, is “probably” under the ruins of one of the struck houses. “First there was a loud noise, then an explosion, and finally the windows and doors of our house were torn off by the blast of the explosion,” said Alexandre, 25, a resident of the city. . “I was in the hall and I was playing with my two-year-old daughter and the cat. She was hysterical. We know the people who lived in this destroyed house,” he added.
Dozens of rescuers were at the scene of the strike, working by the light of lamps and sometimes using their hands and shovels to move the debris, AFP journalists noted. They occasionally cut off the searchlights powered by noisy generators to detect possible signs of life. The strike left a large crater next to the house.
The last major city in Donbass under Ukrainian control, Kramatorsk is located about 20 kilometers from the front line in eastern Ukraine. Since the start of the war two years ago, this city has been the subject of repeated attacks by Russian forces. In April 2022, Kramatorsk station was the target of a bombing which left more than 60 dead.