(Updated: )
Russian forces launched multiple strikes on Dobropillia, a city in Donetsk Oblast, late on March 7, resulting in casualties and injuries, according to the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration.
At least 11 people have been killed and 30 injured, Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin initially reported, noting that more people could be trapped under the rubble. Some eight apartment buildings have been damaged, the official statement said.
Later in the day, he updated the number of wounded to 47. Seven of those injured were hospitalized in Dobropillia while three were evacuated to Dnipro. Among the wounded were seven children.
On March 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in his evening address that the number of injured people rose to 50.
"It was one of the most brutal strikes, a combined one. The strike was deliberately calculated to cause maximum damage," Zelensky said. "Russia proves with its cruelty that nothing has changed for them in Moscow. They are thinking not about how to end the war, but about how to destroy and capture more as long as the world allows them to keep waging this war."
Donestk Oblast declared a day of mourning in response to the attack, which was "one of the most brutal in recent times," Filashkin said.
Dobropillia is located 94 kilometres northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk, the administrative center of the oblast.
"At least 8 five-story buildings, a shopping center, shopping pavilions, and 30 cars were damaged or destroyed. Some of the buildings burned down almost completely," Filashkin wrote on Telegram.
The United States Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink called the news "horrible," in a post on X and wrote, "The civilian population continues to bear the brunt of this war."
First responders have been dispatched to the site of the attack and search and rescue operation were ongoing as of 4:30 pm.
U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to halt intelligence sharing with Kyiv has sparked concerns in Ukraine that Russian missile strikes could now strike the cities without prior warning.
The New York Times reported on March 6 that the freeze on intelligence sharing could hinder vital alerts about incoming Russian drones and missiles.
Trump made the announcement amidst a sharp decline in relations between Kyiv and Washington, as he pressures Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to his proposed peace talks with Russia.
Shortly after the freeze on March 5, a Russian Iskander ballistic missile struck a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, killing four people and injuring at least 30, hammering home what's at stake when Russian missiles are not intercepted.
Natalia Yermak
