Russian missile attack kills 16 at market center in eastern Ukraine

A Russian missile strike killed at least 16 people, including a child, at a market Wednesday in an eastern Ukraine city, according to Ukrainian officials.

Videos show the missile striking at the market in the heart of the city of Kostiantynivka, in the eastern Donetsk region still held by Ukraine, while people were walking around and shopping.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack demonstrated “utter inhumanity” in a Telegram post.

“A regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong,” Zelensky wrote. “Unfortunately, the number of casualties and the injured may rise. My condolences to all who have lost loved ones! This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible.”

The strike also injured 31 people, the Ukrainian newspaper Strana reported, citing information from the local prosecutor’s office.

More people are under the rubble, according to Strana, after the rocket damaged about 20 shops, an administrative building and a residential building.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said a child was among those who were killed in the strike.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families and close ones affected,” Shmyhal wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Russian military forces are terrorists, and they shall find neither absolution nor tranquility. A reckoning for their deeds shall be justly met.”

Ukrainian presidential office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the attack should spur a greater focus on providing Kyiv with more weapons in the war against Russia.

“Because it is allowed to kill. With impunity. Like today,” he wrote on X, referring to Russia. “A deliberate missile attack on the market in Kostiantynivka. When there are many civilians there.”