Russian Airstrikes Kill Mother and Child in Eastern Ukraine’s Sloviansk

Russian bombardment of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk has killed an 11-year-old girl and her mother, local authorities said on Tuesday, as fighting continues to intensify across the Donetsk region.

At least seven other civilians were injured in the strikes, including a 7-year-old child, according to regional officials. Emergency services were deployed to the scene as fires engulfed residential buildings and debris littered surrounding streets.

Regional governor Vadym Filashkin confirmed the deaths in a statement, describing the attack as part of a sustained campaign of violence targeting civilian areas.

“The victims are an 11-year-old girl and her mother. Among the wounded is a 7-year-old child,” Filashkin said, adding that the number of casualties may rise as rescue operations continue.

Images released by local authorities showed heavily damaged apartment blocks, shattered windows, and scorched interiors as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.

Escalating Violence in Donetsk Region

Sloviansk lies in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, one of five territories that Moscow claims as part of Russia, despite the lack of international recognition. The area has remained a focal point of fighting as Russian forces push slowly westward.

The city briefly fell under the control of Kremlin-backed separatists in 2014, during the early stages of the conflict in eastern Ukraine that followed pro-democracy protests in Kyiv and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Ukrainian forces later regained control, and Sloviansk has remained under Kyiv’s authority since then.

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Sloviansk had a population of approximately 100,000 residents. Russian troops are currently estimated to be about 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city.

Filashkin accused Russian forces of committing repeated violations of international humanitarian law, stating that civilian areas in the Donetsk region continue to face daily attacks.

Conflicting Claims Elsewhere

Separately, Russian-installed officials in the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia claimed that Ukrainian strikes over the past 24 hours killed two people. Ukrainian authorities have not independently confirmed those reports.

The latest casualties underscore the continued toll of the nearly four-year conflict, which has displaced millions and caused widespread destruction across Ukraine.