Donetsk deals with aftermath of most powerful shelling: Death toll climbs to 27

Donetsk saw one of the strongest attacks since the start of the special military operation. On January 21, Ukraine shelled a market in the city.

Twenty-seven people were killed and 20 others were wounded in the attack. Denis Pushilin, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, said that the strike was carried out from 152 and 155-mm caliber artillery from the Kurakhovsky and Krasnogorovsky directions.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a total of six artillery attacks were carried out. The shelling was carried out from Ukraine-controlled Avdiivka. Western arms were used for the attack that lasted on and off for as many as 35 minutes.

The shelling of Donetsk has become one of the largest in two years. Many of the victims suffered penetrating wounds to vital organs, some suffered traumatic amputation of limbs.

Pushilin noted that the Donetsk market came under fire during the weekend, when there were many people on the market.

The last such attack took place on March 14, 2022, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired a Tochka-U missile into the city centre killing 21 and injuring 37 civilians.

Russian Foreign Ministry official representative Maria Zakharova said that the shelling of Donetsk was "a barbaric terrorist act against the civilian population of Russia.”

"The unrestrained desire of the West to inflict a "strategic defeat” on Russia at the hands of Ukrainian puppets is pushing the Kiev regime to increasingly reckless steps,” Zakharova noted.

Zakharova also said that the attack of Donetsk would be discussed at the meeting of the UN Security Council on January 22.