KYIV: A Russian strike killed at least 17 people at a market in east Ukraine Wednesday, officials said, in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky described as deliberate and “heinous”. Projectiles tore through the centre of Kostiantynivka — a town of nearly 70,000 people in the Donetsk region — hours after America’s top diplomat arrived in Kyiv to announce new wartime aid.
Ukraine’s newly appointed defence minister meanwhile vowed to liberate “every centimetre” of territory occupied by Russia in his first comments in the post. Rescue workers picked through the debris and carried some of the wounded for treatment past charred vehicles and kiosks torn to pieces in the blast, according to images distributed by officials. “Seventeen people were killed and 32 injured as a result of the Russian shelling,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, announcing the rescue operation had ended.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said a child was among those killed in the attack, which took place about 20 kilometres from the front line…Source: Dawn.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
