(Reuters) – Two civilians were killed in Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on Saturday, the Donetsk region administration said on Sunday.
In one of its few offensives in months, Russia’s military pressed on for a fifth day with assaults on Avdiivka, with shelling so fierce that emergency crews were unable to recover the dead from wrecked buildings.
The administration of the Donetsk region said on Sunday on the Telegram messaging app that one more person was injured elsewhere in the region.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Sunday its forces had repelled 15 Russian attacks near Avdiivka, Tonenke and Pervomaiske in the Donetsk region, while Russian forces launched heavy air strikes in the area.
Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region also in Ukraine’s east, said on Sunday a 54-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man were killed and one woman injured in an overnight Russian air attack.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched against its neighbour in February last year.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)
