Russian shelling kills four in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Reuters:  Russian shelling killed at least four people on Thursday in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia's slow advance along the eastern part of the frontline of the 29-month-old war against Russia.

Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said at least two people were killed in shelling of a residential district of Kostiantynivka, west of Bakhmut, a town which passed into Russian hands a year ago after months of heavy fighting.

Filashkin later reported two more killed and 11 injured in Selydove, further southwest. Twenty multi-storey apartment blocks and six administrative buildings were damaged.

Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region regularly come under Russian shelling and air strikes. Russian forces control a large part of the region, which Moscow claims along with four other Ukrainian regions as its own territory.

Donetsk also remains one of the hottest areas of fighting as Russia targets areas in the direction of the strategic eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

At least four people were killed in Russian shelling in Donetsk on Wednesday.

Thursday's shelling came as Russian forces battled Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region. The Ukrainian forces smashed through the border three days ago, in what Moscow said was an attempt to force Russia to divert resources from the battle front in Ukraine.