Russian strike kills 16 in east Ukraine market: Zelensky

KIEV

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.

"At this moment, the artillery of Russian terrorists has killed 16 people in the city of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region. A regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong. Many wounded," Zelensky said in a post on social media.

Prime Minister Denys Shmygal posted security camera footage of a blast tearing into rows of kiosks, sending residents running for cover and sending off car alarms.

He said one child was among the dead.

Ukraine's interior ministry Igor Klymenko said in a post on social media that the strike had left 28 people injured.

Kostyantynivka is a frontline town of an estimated 70,000 people in the eastern industrial region of Donetsk, which has been the epicentre of fighting since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

Dontetsk has been partially controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014 and Russia claimed to have annexed the region alongside three others late last year.