UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns Ukraine’s deadly attack on Donetsk market

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned a deadly Ukraine’s shelling of a market on the outskirts of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the UN chief said on Sunday that all such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including today’s shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine, which reportedly killed at least 25 people and injured more than 20 others,” the spokesperson said.

“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, are unacceptable, and must stop immediately.”

On Sunday, the busy market in Donetsk came under artillery shelling by Ukrainian troops. According to the Head of the Russian-administrated areas of the Donetsk region Denis Pushilin, Ukrainian troops used 152mm and 155mm artillery systems. As a result, at least 27 people were killed and 25 more were wounded.

The Kremlin said the Ukrainian strike on civilians in Donetsk using non-precision weapons shows Kiev’s vicious side.

Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, also said that Ukraine’s shelling of Donetsk would be brought up at a UN Security Council meeting.

Pushilin announced a day of mourning on Monday in Donetsk, one of the four pro-Moscow regions that separated from Ukraine and joined Russia in a 2022 referendum.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the attack “a barbaric act of terrorism” by Ukraine that was carried out “with the use of weapons supplied by the West.”