Russian attacks killed two people and injured eight in the eastern Ukrainian city Kramatorsk on Saturday, the mayor said, accusing Moscow of using cluster bombs in the attack.
“Russia continues to sow terror,” Oleksandr Goncharenko said in a Facebook post. “Consequences of bombing Kramatorsk with cluster bombs: two dead and eight injured, three of them seriously.”
AFP journalists on the ground heard about 10 explosions go off almost simultaneously just before 4pm local time (2pm GMT) and saw smoke above a park in the southern part of the city.
A woman died on the spot of her injuries, they saw.
Shortly afterwards, another round of explosions was heard in a neighborhood two kilometers away. A female taxi driver was seriously injured, according to AFP journalists.
“She came over to see me. I said goodbye to her, closed the door and a few seconds later I heard the explosions,” says Lena, 46. “I was lucky to be inside with my daughter when all this happened .”
A UN treaty, supported by most Western countries, bans the use and transfer of cluster bombs, which release dozens of small explosives, often posing a threat long after a conflict has ended.
Russia and Ukraine have not signed the treaty, and the United Nations has raised the alarm over Moscow’s alleged use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas since it invaded Ukraine last year.
The attacks marked the second time in a week that Kramatorsk had been targeted. On Tuesday, one person died and three people were injured in an attack on residential buildings.
Kramatorsk is located in the eastern industrial region of Donetsk, parts of which, including the largest city, have been controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014.
In April 2022, a missile strike killed about 60 people at Kramatorsk railway station, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians of the invasion.
Moscow has been trying to conquer the entire region after it was declared Russia last year.
“Russia continues to sow terror,” Oleksandr Goncharenko said in a Facebook post. “Consequences of bombing Kramatorsk with cluster bombs: two dead and eight injured, three of them seriously.”
AFP journalists on the ground heard about 10 explosions go off almost simultaneously just before 4pm local time (2pm GMT) and saw smoke above a park in the southern part of the city.
A woman died on the spot of her injuries, they saw.
Shortly afterwards, another round of explosions was heard in a neighborhood two kilometers away. A female taxi driver was seriously injured, according to AFP journalists.
“She came over to see me. I said goodbye to her, closed the door and a few seconds later I heard the explosions,” says Lena, 46. “I was lucky to be inside with my daughter when all this happened .”
A UN treaty, supported by most Western countries, bans the use and transfer of cluster bombs, which release dozens of small explosives, often posing a threat long after a conflict has ended.
Russia and Ukraine have not signed the treaty, and the United Nations has raised the alarm over Moscow’s alleged use of cluster munitions in densely populated areas since it invaded Ukraine last year.
The attacks marked the second time in a week that Kramatorsk had been targeted. On Tuesday, one person died and three people were injured in an attack on residential buildings.
Kramatorsk is located in the eastern industrial region of Donetsk, parts of which, including the largest city, have been controlled by Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014.
In April 2022, a missile strike killed about 60 people at Kramatorsk railway station, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians of the invasion.
Moscow has been trying to conquer the entire region after it was declared Russia last year.
