(Reuters) -The Russia-installed head of occupied parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said late on Monday that Ukrainian forces had launched heavy drone and missile attacks on two cities in the area, killing two people and injuring 16.
Denis Pushilin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said Ukrainian forces had struck targets in the region’s main city, also called Donetsk, and in Makiivka, an industrial town further north.
There was no comment from Ukrainian officials on the attacks.
Russian news agencies quoted security officials in the occupied areas as saying that at least 20 drones had been deployed in the two assaults and that air defence units were in action. They said explosions had resounded throughout the city of Donetsk and the air was hanging heavy with smoke.
The popular Russian war blog Rybar said there had also been explosions in Yenakiievo, another Russian-held industrial town, where it said at least one apartment block had been hit.
Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, control a little less than 20% of all of Ukraine’s territory and about 75% of Donetsk region.
Russia has formally annexed four regions, including Donetsk, and is engaged in a slow drive westward to capture the rest of the area.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
