Russian airstrike kills 21 in Donetsk as villagers queued for pensions

Dublin People Group is collaborating with the Ukrainian Center for International Communications Cideips to provide information regarding ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Terror struck a small Ukrainian village today as an airstrike tore through a crowd of pensioners waiting to collect their payments, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens more.

The attack happened in Yarova, a settlement in the Donetsk region that has been under constant threat since the war began.

Witnesses say the missile struck without warning as residents stood in line outside a local post office to receive their pensions, a monthly ritual that, for many, is their only means of survival.

Preliminary reports confirmed the blast left 21 dead and more than two dozen injured.

Emergency services scrambled to the scene, pulling victims from the rubble and rushing the wounded to nearby hospitals. Among the injured are said to be elderly residents in critical condition.

Local officials described the strike as a deliberate targeting of civilians, calling it one of the deadliest single attacks on non-combatants in recent weeks.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry condemned the bombing, accusing Russia of “yet another war crime against innocent people who were simply trying to live their daily lives.”

Today’s strike, hitting at the precise moment pensioners were gathered to collect their money, has left the community reeling in grief and outrage.

International reaction is expected to follow swiftly, with Ukraine’s allies likely to renew calls for accountability as evidence of atrocities continues to mount.

In a Telegram post cited by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated: “A brutally savage Russian airstrike with an aerial bomb on the rural settlement of Yarova in the Donetsk region.

“Directly on people.

“Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed.

“According to preliminary information, more than 20 people were killed.

“There are no words… My condolences to all the families and loved ones of the victims.”