People stand next to a damaged store building in the aftermath of a shelling, which local Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian military strike, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, January 10, 2024. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of carrying out a missile strike on a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, saying the attack killed two civilians and wounded two others.
State news agency RIA quoted Russian investigators as saying that a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile appeared to have been used.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine and Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.
Unverified photos posted on social media showed a burnt-out car in front of a shattered two-storey circular building surrounded by debris.
Dashcam footage posted by a driver nearby appeared to show the moment the supermarket - called Moloko (Milk) - was struck, with an ensuing large explosion and flames soaring into the sky.
Reuters was able to confirm the location from a nearby building’s facades, signs and road layout that matched satellite and street view imagery. The date was verified by a time stamp on the footage.
Denis Pushilin, a senior Russian-backed official, accused the Ukrainian army of firing HIMARS into the area during the morning rush hour.
Russia's TASS state news agency said other buildings and around 15 cars had been damaged in the same attack.
Pushilin said in a statement on his official Telegram account that an apartment building in the city of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region had also been struck by Ukrainian forces, killing one woman and wounding four others.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan and Anastasia Teterevleva; editing by Mark Heinrich)
