Ukraine strikes kindergarten in Russian city – mayor

Ukrainian artillery struck the city of Gorlovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic shortly after midnight on Saturday, according to Mayor Ivan Prikhodko. A kindergarten and a hotel were among the buildings damaged by the attack, which also disrupted the power supply.

Two civilians were wounded at the ‘Rodina’ hotel, which appears to have caught the brunt of the attack. Videos posted by Prikhodko on Telegram showed bloody footprints and the floor collapsed from the impact of a projectile.

Four more people, including a first responder, suffered injuries elsewhere in the city, Prikhodko added.

Damage was also reported to the ‘Teremok’ kindergarten, several residences on Pushkin Street and a dental clinic. The neighborhood of ‘Kvartal 245’ in the city center was temporarily left without power.

The last major artillery attack on Gorlovka was almost three weeks ago, when one civilian was killed and four more were injured. The Galaktika shopping center was completely destroyed on the occasion.

According to the local authorities, there were two artillery strikes from the Ukrainian-held Dzerzhinsk, about 15 minutes apart, each using half a dozen 155mm shells with cluster warheads. The so-called “double tap” strike is usually intended to cause maximum carnage among medics and rescue workers responding to the initial attack.

Gorlovka is located 50 kilometers north of Donetsk city, in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). It has been subjected to regular Ukrainian shelling since 2014, when Donetsk and the neighboring Lugansk rejected the US-backed coup in Kiev and declared independence. Both territories were incorporated into Russia in October 2022, along with the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions.

Russia has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian forces of targeting residential areas with no military significance. Western-provided weapons such as HIMARS rocket artillery launchers and cluster munitions have been used in attacks on Donbass cities and villages, claiming numerous civilian lives. 

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