Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has accused Kyiv of a “heinous act of terrorism” after a missile hit a Russian-held city in eastern Ukraine on Sunday.
During a regular news briefing, Dmitry Peskov said that 27 people had been killed and 25 others injured in an attack on Donetsk.
He said: “The [Russian] Ministry of Defence, our air defence assets, other relevant agencies are taking necessary measures to protect against this kind of terrorist attack.
“The Kyiv regime is continuing to show its vicious side in that they are striking civilian infrastructure. They are striking people, civilians.”
Russian officials in Donetsk said the attack targeted an area with shops and a market.
But, Ukrainian forces said on Sunday that it was not responsibility for the death of anyone on occupied territory – and instead pointed the finger at Moscow.
Donetsk is internationally recognised as Ukrainian land which was annexed by Putin in September 2022 along with three other regions in the east of the besieged country.
Ukraine and its allies have repeatedly denounced this annexation as illegal.
Kyiv has also said it would be happy to negotiate a peace deal as long Russia removed its troops from all of Ukraine’s land.
But, Moscow has refused to give up the 17% of Ukrainian land currently under its control.
The Russian president recently claimed it is “impossible” for Moscow to renounce land it did not occupy even two years ago.
It’s worth noting that Moscow has been targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure since it launched its invasion back in February 2022.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are estimated to have been killed or injured in the last two years. After the first year of the war, the UK’s ministry of defence estimated more than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed.
Until recently, Russian civilians were shielded from the brutal war, as the frontline stretches across Ukrainian territory.
Then, at the end of last year, Moscow said 25 people had been killed during a Ukrainian missile and drone attack on the western city of Belgorod, Russia.
AP news agency reported that it came after an 18-hour Russian aerial bombardment which killed at least 41 civilians across Ukraine.
Ukraine has been looking into long-range drones to strike deep inside Russia for months, even though the West has issued warnings about these methods.