At least 24 people are still missing, including a child, while the Russian missile that hit the apartment building in the city of Chashiv Yar killed 15 people and injured dozens of others.
So far, rescue crews have managed to pull six people alive and are in verbal contact with three more people trapped in the rubble.
The town of Chashiv Yar, with a population of 12,000 people, is about 12 miles from Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be the next target of Russian forces.
At least 591 civilians have been killed and 1,548 wounded so far in Donetsk province since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In response to the new strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians and promised that "punishment is inevitable for every Russian killer."
Zelensky[/B] referred to the attack on the town in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine during his latest address, adding that "dozens of people" trapped under the rubble were still being sought.
"Whoever orders such strikes, whoever carries them out in common towns, in populated areas, kills completely deliberately. After such strikes, they will not be able to say that they did not know or did not understand something."
Punishment is inevitable for every Russian murderer. Absolutely for all of them. As it was for the Nazis. And let them not expect their state to protect them. Russia will be the first to abandon them when political conditions change," the Ukrainian president said."
New call for civilians to leave[BR][/B]
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Veretsuk called on civilians in Russia-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine to urgently evacuate the area as Ukrainian armed forces prepare a counter-offensive.
Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks after Russia invaded on February 24.
One million Ukrainian soldiers ready for a counterattack in the southern regions of the country
"It is clear that there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling [] AND THEREFORE WE URGE (CIVILIANS) TO EVACUATE URGENTLY," VERETSUK TOLD STATE TELEVISION.
She noted that she could not say exactly when the counterattack would take place.
"I know for sure that there should be no women and children there and that they should not be turned into human shields," she warned."
Authorities in Kherson, where Russian occupation forces have settled, say they want to hold a referendum on annexing the region to Russia, but have not yet set a date.
The Kremlin argues that the future of the region should be determined by its residents.
Kherson includes the town of the same name, which before the war had a population of nearly 300,000. It is not known how many of the town's inhabitants are still there.
Source:Cnn.gr
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