Ukranian officials claim at least five people have been killed after a suspected Russian missile attack struck the town of Pokrovsk. Another 31 people are said to have been injured in the blast.

Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko says four people – including an official – were killed while President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were “victims” but did not give a figure.

According to the BBC, rescue efforts are continuing.

Pokrovsk is around 43 miles (70km) north-west of Donetsk, which is currently occupied by Russian forces. Before the war it was home to around 60,000 people.

Pokrovsk

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Klymenko said the first strike killed four civilians. He says an official from the emergency services then died during a second missile strike.

The injured including 19 police officers, five rescuers and a child, the Ukraine minister said. Zelensky says the Russian attacks had struck an”ordinary residential building”, publishing a video of a five-storey building that had its top floor destroyed.

The video showed scenes of chaos and confusion. Citizens were seen clearing away rubble while rescuers were helping people into ambulances.

Pavlo Krylenko, the head of the Donetsk region, said the strikes damaged two “private sector residential buildings, a hotel, catering establishments, shops and administrative buildings”.

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He told families to take cover due to a possiblity of “repeated attacks”. While Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office said at least two civilians were killed when Russian guided bombs hit “private houses” in Kharkiv Region on Monday evening.

A total of five people were injuried, he said. It comes just a day after a Russian “guided bomb” hit a blood transfusion centre in Ukraine.

Officials say two people were killed. Ukraine meanwhile has been attempting to regain territory from Russia, it has made some gains since launching a counter-offensive two months ago.

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