Seven civilians were killed today in two separate incidents in occupied eastern Ukraine, five of them when they were hit by a mine and the other two by shelling.

Another person was killed also from bombing a village outside Kharkiv.

“A minibus heading to a cemetery hit a mine in the Donetsk community. There were eight people in the vehicle. All five were killedLeonid Pasetsnik, the head of the Luhansk region, which has been annexed by Russia, said in a Telegram post.

Vyacheslav Tretyakov, the mayor of the city of Kremina, located in the same region, also announced that two people were killed and two others were seriously injured by Ukrainian shelling. “Once again, the Ukrainian armed forces committed a cynical attack, shelling our city. The enemy has hit the center of the city, where our fellow citizens do their shopping and children take walks“, he argued.

The Luhansk region, which has been partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, is one of four Ukrainian provinces “annexed” by Russia in September 2022.

One dead and seven injured in Kharkiv

A Russian missile hit a village north of Kharkiv this afternoon, killing a 70-year-old man and injuring seven others, including seven teenagers, local officials said.

The attack in the village of Borova, about 20 kilometers from the front line in northeastern Ukraine, engulfed a private house, neighboring buildings and two cars in flames, police said. Oleh Sinekhubov, the governor of Kharkiv region, announced via Telegram that a 70-year-old resident of the village was killed.

According to the first elements of the investigation carried out by the authorities, the Russian forces used an Iskander-M ballistic missile. Footage from the scene, released by Sinekhubov, shows a large crater and flames shooting from a pile of rubble.

The area of ​​Kharkiv, which borders Russia, is often the target of attacks. Moscow denies that it is deliberately targeting civilians, although many have been killed in airstrikes over the past two years.

Overnight Russia launched 42 drones in various parts of Ukraine in the biggest drone attack in weeks.