KYIV: Russian attacks in the war-battered eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk early Monday killed two elderly women in the town of Ukrainsk, regional authorities said.

The industrial territory has been the focus of Russian firepower over more than two years of conflict and the Kremlin’s forces have claimed slow but steady gains there.

Donetsk regional prosecutors said the strike with rockets had damaged an administrative building and several homes in the town with a pre-war population of 13,000.

“As a result of the shelling, two women aged 65 and 70 who were on the street suffered fatal injuries,” and eight civilians were wounded, their statement said.

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The region’s governor repeated a call for civilians to flee.

“Every day in Donetsk region there are more and more victims of Russian war crimes. It is dangerous to stay here! Be responsible! Evacuate!” Vadym Filashkin wrote on social media.

The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the Donetsk region along with three others in late 2022 even though its forces were still fighting to control.