Russian attack on Ukrainian supermarket kills 14, officials say

Ukrainian authorities have said a Russian missile slammed into a supermarket in the eastern town of Kostiantynivka, killing at least 14 people and injuring 43, as Ukraine’s forces push on with their incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

The shopping centre in the eastern province of Donetsk was struck by a plane-launched missile on Friday, hitting the location in the middle of the day. Photos of the aftermath showed the market in smouldering ruins.

“This is another targeted attack on a crowded place, another act of terror by the Russians,” Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said in a Telegram post.

Friday’s attack is the second of its kind in the town over the last year, with 17 killed when a Russian missile hit an outdoor market last September.

In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia would be “held accountable for this terror”.

UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said in a statement that July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since October 2022, as Russia stepped up bombardments.

“The high number of casualties in July continued an alarming trend of increasing civilian casualties since March 2024,” an HRMMU statement said.