Twenty dead in Russian attack on village, Zelensky says

More than 20 people have been killed in a Russian air strike on a village in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymr Zelensky has said, citing initial reports.

The victims were ordinary people collecting their pensions in the Donetsk settlement of Yarova, he said.

Yarova, to the north of Sloviansk, is one of the big cities in the region and not far from the front line as Russian forces advance slowly in the east.

If confirmed, the death toll would be among the heaviest attacks on Ukrainian civilians in recent weeks, 42 months into Russia’s full-scale invasion.

At least 23 people were killed in overnight air strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv at the end of August.

At the weekend Russia launched its biggest air assault of the war on Kyiv so far, hitting the main government building in the capital, in what Zelensky said was a “ruthless” attack aimed at prolonging the war.

Posting graphic footage of the attack on Yarova online, Zelensky said there were “no words” to describe the latest Russian strikes. There was no immediate response from Russia’s military.

“The world must not remain silent,” Zelensky said, calling for a response from both the US, Europe and the G20 group of nations.