(Reuters) – Authorities in Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine said a total of seven civilians were killed on Thursday in two separate Ukrainian artillery strikes, Russian news agencies said.
Four civilians died in Donetsk when shells hit a car park, and another six people were injured, Tass said. RIA later said three people died in blasts at a bus stop in Lysychansk, some 120 km (75 miles) to the northeast of Donetsk.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports. Ukrainian defence officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Donetsk, capital of the Ukrainian province of the same name, has been controlled by Russian proxy forces since 2014, but remains close to the front line of Russia’s war with Ukraine and regularly comes under fire from Ukrainian forces.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey, David Ljunggren and Jonathan Oatis)
