Ihor Klymenko / Telegram

At least 9 people have been killed and another 36 injured in a Russian missile strike on a busy supermarket in the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram on Friday.

Following the strike, a large fire engulfed the complex but was extinguished, Klymenko wrote , adding that residential buildings, shops and cars at the scene were severely damaged. A rescue operation is currently underway to save those trapped under the rubble, Klymenko said, adding: “The enemy attacks, we rescue and protect. I thank everyone who is with the victims.”

Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said that it had “been established that the enemy launched an airstrike on the town with an Kh-38 missile and hit a supermarket.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, which he described as a strike by “Russian terrorists” on “an ordinary supermarket and post office”.

“People are under the rubble. A rescue operation is underway and everything will be done to save people,” Zelensky pledged, before stressing that Russia would be “held responsible for this terror, and we will do everything so that the world continues to stand with Ukraine, supporting our defence and saving the lives of our people.”