At least five people were killed today when a residential building collapsed after an artillery strike in Lisichansk, a Ukrainian city that has been under control linked to Russian forces since mid-2022. The incident occurred in the eastern Donetsk region, where authorities report that the strike damaged nearby structures and trapped residents beneath the rubble. Local officials say the collapse followed a sustained barrage and stress the risk that additional survivors may still be buried, prompting ongoing search and rescue efforts.
Rescue teams worked through the night, extracting six individuals from the debris and recovering five bodies, according to the emergency press service. The updates also noted that rescue operations were continuing as crews conducted structural assessments and widened the search area to identify others who might be trapped in the rubble.
Health officials confirmed that one person was hospitalized in stable condition while five others sustained serious injuries and required medical care. The figures were provided by the Interfax information agency, which has been closely monitoring the situation and relaying casualty details from the scene.
Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, stated that Ukrainian artillery shells struck a bakery in Lisichansk on the same day, adding to the disruption and fear caused by the fighting around the town. Lisichansk has remained under Russian control since July 2022, a status that has influenced the local civilian experience amid ongoing hostilities and periodic clashes in the broader Donetsk region.
A prior, similar attack in mid-January resulted in a high civilian toll, with approximately thirty people killed and around twenty injured at a market near the Donetsk capital. This history underscores the persistent risk to civilians in urban centers affected by the conflict and the challenges faced by rescue crews as they search for survivors amid unstable infrastructure and repeated bombardment.
