(Reuters) – At least seven people were killed in an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on Monday in the Russian-held town of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Russian state news agency TASS said on Tuesday.
“There are already seven dead for sure and about 60 wounded,” TASS quoted Vladimir Leontyev, head of Russia-installed Kakhovka District military-civilian administration in the Kherson region.
“There are still many people under the rubble. The injured are being taken to the hospital, but many people are blocked in their apartments and houses,” Leontyev added.
According to TASS, in addition to damaged buildings, the attack also led to an explosion at fertiliser warehouses in the region.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Ukraine says Russian forces have targeted civilians since they invaded on Feb. 24, leaving cities, towns and villages in ruins, but Moscow rejects the charge and in turn says Ukrainians are responsible for civilians deaths.
Ukrainian officials said their forces had destroyed an ammunition depot in Nova Kakhovka. Serhiy Bratchuk, Odesa administration spokesperson, wrote on his Telegram channel that Nova Kakhovka was now “minus” its ammunition warehouse.
Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 claiming it was a “special military operation” to demilitarise its neighbour and rid it of dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and the West say it was an imperialist land grab by Putin.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Elaine Monaghan; Editing by Stephen Coates and Michael Perry)
