Russian strike on residential building kills 15 in eastern Ukraine: Officials

Ukraine: At least 15 people have been killed after a Russian strike hit an apartment block in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities said Sunday, adding that many others may still be trapped under the rubble.

More than 20 people were believed still trapped.

As of 1 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET), emergency workers rescued five people and established contact with three others who were still buried under the rubble, the service said in a statement.

As per reports, rescuers were seen using a crane to lift a concrete slab and their hands to dig through the debris on Sunday.

One woman was seen walking out of the destroyed building carrying an ironing board under her arm, an umbrella and a plastic shopping bag. Others simply watched rescue efforts, fearing the worst as the dead were removed.

"We ran to the basement, there were three hits, the first somewhere in the kitchen," said a local resident who gave her name as Ludmila.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the attack in the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region was "another terrorist attack" and Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarise Ukraine and rid it of nationalists.

The biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two has killed thousands, left cities and towns in ruins and seen more than 5.5 million Ukrainians flee their country.

Russia abandoned an early advance on the capital Kyiv in the face of fierce resistance bolstered by Western arms.

Its military campaign is now focused the south and the eastern Donbas region, which is made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. The Kremlin wants to hand control of this industrial heartland to pro-Russian separatists who have declared independence from Kyiv.