January 21, 2024, 12:49 GMT
Updated 29 minutes ago
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Russian-appointed officials in Donetsk blamed Ukraine for the attack, but Kiev had no comment
A grenade attack in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk killed at least 27 people, the region's Moscow-appointed leader said.
Denis Pushilin said a Ukrainian attack that also wounded 25 people hit a busy market and the toll could change.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the attack as a “barbaric terrorist attack” against civilians.
There has been no comment on the incident from Ukraine so far.
BBC News was unable to immediately verify the circumstances of the strike.
Mr Pushilin said the “terrible” strike took place when the market was at its busiest.
Photos published by the Portal news agency appeared to show destroyed shop fronts and bodies lying on the street.
According to AFP, a local resident named Tatiana told local media she heard a projectile above her and hid under her market stall.
“I saw smoke, people were screaming, a woman was crying,” she was quoted as saying.
The city of Donetsk and parts of the wider region in eastern Ukraine were first captured by Russian-backed forces in 2014, and the area has been partially controlled by Moscow since then.
The town is about 20 km (12 miles) from the front line. Areas near the city of Donetsk – including Mariinka and Avdiivka – have seen the fiercest fighting recently.
It has been nearly two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but it has made little progress in recent months.
On Saturday they said they had captured the village of Krokhmalne in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military spokesman confirmed that forces had withdrawn from the area but said the area was of little military importance.
Days earlier, Moscow also claimed to have taken control of a settlement called Vesele in Donetsk. Kyiv has not confirmed the claim.