Russian rockets reportedly struck a five-story apartment building in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk area, killing at least 15 people and possibly trapping another two dozen, local officials reported yesterday, as rescuers combed through debris.

Ukraine reportedly reported battles with Russian soldiers on fronts in the east and south. At the same time, Moscow said its forces attacked Ukrainian army hangars storing M777 howitzers, a type of artillery manufactured in the United States, near Kostyantynivka, Donetsk area.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk, stated that the attack on the apartment complex occurred in Chaiiv Yar on Saturday evening. Yesterday afternoon, the local emergency services reported 15 fatalities.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on Telegram that six persons, including a child, had been recovered from the debris at Chasiv Yar and that 23 people, including a child, remained buried.

"We ran to the basement; there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen," said a resident identified as Ludmila as rescuers rescued a body wrapped in a white sheet and cleaned the rubble using a crane and their bare hands.

"The second time, I cannot even recall, there was thunder and lightning, and we fled to the second entrance and then directly into the basement. There, we sat from last night until this morning." Venera, a second survivor, stated that she had attempted to preserve her two cubs.

She sobbed, "I was thrown into the restroom amidst chaos and shock, covered in blood." "When I exited the restroom, the room was filled with debris, and three levels had collapsed. I never located the kittens under the debris."

Territorial conflict

The chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zelensky, Andriy Yermak, stated in a Telegram message that the attack was "another terrorist attack" and that Russia should be labeled as a state sponsor of terrorism as a result.

Russia, which asserts it is conducting a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine, denies purposefully targeting people.

Luhansk and Donetsk provinces make up the Donbas, the eastern industrial region of Ukraine that has become Europe's most significant battleground in decades. Russia desires to seize control of the Donbas on behalf of the separatists it supports.

Ukraine and the West, which has provided Ukraine with weaponry and imposed severe sanctions on Russia, consider Moscow's invasion an unprovoked act of aggression.

Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions in the town of Sloviansk in Donetsk but were forced to retreat, according to Ukraine's military, who also said that the Russian troops had launched a cruise missile attack on the city of Kharkiv from their side of the border. It provided no information about damages or casualties.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk area, reported that Russian forces were amassing in the village of Bilohorivka, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Sloviansk.

Russia "is shelling the surrounding settlements and conducting airstrikes, but is still unable to quickly occupy the entire Luhansk region," he stated over Telegram.

Last weekend, Russia declared complete control over the region of Luhansk.

Russia's defense ministry reported that its forces had demolished two hangars in the Donetsk town of Kostyantynivka that housed US-made M777 howitzers, which had been used to shell residential parts of Donetsk.

Yesterday, Russian news outlets reported that separatist leaders stated that the Ukrainian military had been bombing Donetsk with 155-millimeter artillery of NATO standard since the morning, injuring two citizens.

Reuters was unable to confirm accounts from the battlefield independently.

Ukrainian military spokespersons were unavailable for comment at the time of our inquiry.

According to Ukraine's military leadership, Ukrainian forces fired missiles and artillery at Russian locations in the Chornobaivka region, including weapons dumps.

Yesterday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged citizens in the Russian-occupied Kherson region to evacuate immediately, as Ukrainian armed forces were preparing a counter-attack there. However, she did not specify a date for the counter-attack.

She stated on national television, "I am certain that women and children should not be present there, nor should they be used as human shields."