Russia-Ukraine war: Donetsk reports 27 dead in market shelling

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the Donetsk region, said that at least 27 people were killed and 25 more injured after Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

The toll was revised late Sunday to 27 people who were killed in attacks from the 25 that Pushilin stated earlier. Officials said the shells had been fired by the Ukrainian military and had hit a market area.

Pushilin described it as a "horrific" artillery strike on a civilian area, adding that another strike in a separate neighborhood in the city had also killed at least one person.

Ukrainian forces have not commented on the attack and DW could not independently verify the claims.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of a sharp escalation on civilian areas over the past two months. The frontlines of the war remain largely static.

Donetsk is one of the four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally recognizes as a republic within its territory, a move many observers say violates international law.

Russian gas terminal halts operations after suspected Ukrainian strike

Russian energy company Novatek said it had to suspend operations at a key Baltic sea oil and gas terminal on Sunday after a fire that was reportedly caused by a Ukrainian drone strike.

Novatek did not explicitly blame Ukraine but said the fire was a result of "external influence."

"The technological process at Novatek-Ust-Luga has been stopped, and an operational headquarters has been established to eliminate the consequences. Damage assessment will be carried out later," the company said.

According to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the fire was caused by a special operation carried out by Ukraine's security services.

"The Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. Fuel is refined there, which,among other things, is also supplied to Russian troops," a source told Interfax-Ukraine.

"A successful attack on such a terminal not only causes economic damage to the enemy, depriving the occupiers of the opportunity to earn money to wage war in Ukraine, but also significantly complicates the logistics of fuel for the Russian military."

Russian media reported that two storage tanks and a pumping station were damaged, but added that the blaze was now under control.

"No casualties as a result of a fire at Novatek's terminal in the port of Ust-Luga. Personnel were evacuated," added Aleksandr Drozdenko, the governor of Leningrad Oblast where the facility is located.

The Ust-Luga complex is a major export terminal on the Baltic Sea that processes natural gas condensate into naphtha, jet fuel and ship fuel components.