A Russian airstrike killed 24 civilians at a pension disbursal point in a village in eastern Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Kyiv's allies to increase pressure on Moscow to end its war.
Russian forces have pressed a grinding offensive across much of the eastern Donetsk region as diplomatic efforts to end the 3½-year-old war have largely stalled.
Zelenskyy said the Russian airstrike had hit the village of Yarova, about 24 kilometres from the city of Sloviansk and several kilometres behind the front line.
"Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed," he wrote on X.
The president posted video footage showing bodies strewn across the ground and debris.
In addition to the deaths, 19 others were wounded, the State Emergency Service said. All of the dead were elderly, said regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
"The world must not remain silent," Zelenskyy said. "The world must not remain idle. A response is needed from the United States. A response is needed from Europe. A response is needed from the G20."
A damaged bicycle and debris lie on the ground following a Russian airstrike that killed 24 civilians at a pension disbursal point on Tuesday in the village of Yarova in Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Reuters)Russia did not immediately comment on Zelenskyy's remarks. Moscow has denied targeting civilians, but tens of thousands have died since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
While European leaders and other allies including Canada have met to consider how to support Ukraine in a post-war scenario, there is no sign of further talks involving Russia since President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska on Aug. 15.
The White House has yet to impose additional sanctions on Russia despite Trump giving Putin a series of deadlines — that have all now passed — to demonstrate that he was serious about winding down the war.
In his evening address on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said that Moscow interpreted a lack of stronger international sanctions as permission to continue its war.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Telegram that its defence systems destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 15 over the Black Sea.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
A woman walks Tuesday near a damaged multi-storey residential building, which was damaged the previous day by what local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in a Russian-controlled area of Donetsk, Ukraine. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)A man died as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack overnight on the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi, a Russian regional governor said on Tuesday.
Debris from a destroyed drone hit a car the man was driving in the Adler district of Sochi, Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on the Telegram messaging app.
In addition, six houses were damaged, Kondratyev said.