KYIV: At least 11 people, including five children, were killed by a Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukraine town of Pokrovsk on Saturday, the regional governor said.

Eight people were also wounded when Russian forces hit the area with S-300 missiles.

"The main blow was dealt to Pokrovsk and Rivne in the community of Myrnograd", the head of the Donetsk region, Vadim Filashkin, said on Telegram.

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He released photographs showing rescue workers working through the debris of the attack which damaged six houses.

The town of Pokrovsk, which had a population of 60,000 before the war, had already been hit by a deadly bombardment last August, which left nine people dead and 82 injured.

The town is around fifty kilometres (30 miles) from the front line of the fighting.