Donetsk

Olena Semykina, the owner of a village shop in east Ukraine, voted for President Volodymyr Zelensky five and a half years ago, hoping the fresh-faced political newcomer would end the fighting unleashed by Russian proxy forces in 2014.

Ukraine said on Saturday that nine people were killed in the country's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions due to Russian airstrikes.

A statement by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that four people were killed and six others injured in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where it claimed Russia attacked settlements in the region's Bohodukhiv, Izium and Kupiansk districts during the day.

Ukrainian civilians were seen fleeing areas near the front line on Wednesday as Russian troops continued to advance in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia carried out an airstrike on a large supermarket in Kostyantynivka, a town in the Donetsk region, located several kilometers from the front lines.

According to Vadim Filashkin, the chairman of the Donetsk regional state administration, the attack resulted in two fatalities and 17 injuries. He described the incident as another act of terrorism by Russia.

Russian bombing raids killed three people including a child late Tuesday near Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk, local authorities said.

The strikes hit nine apartment blocks and a hospital in Selydove, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the front line, the local council said on Telegram.

Twelve people were also injured in the bombing, including four children, it added.

Day 698 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Day 697 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Day 645 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that the Russian Air Defense Forces had destroyed a drone launched by Ukrainian forces towards the Russian capital.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the foreign ministers of the Alliance members reiterated their determination to support Ukraine on its way to the Alliance, as well as its defense in the war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a Russian strike on a market in east Ukraine had killed more than a dozen people and wounded more, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Kiev.