Ukraine carries out airstrikes on two towns in occupied Donetsk

2025-09-09 08:46:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian forces carried out drone and missile attacks on two cities in the occupied parts of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Monday evening.

Two people were killed and 16 others were wounded in the attacks, according to Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces hit targets in Donetsk city and in Makiivka, an industrial town in the north of the Donetsk region, Pushilin said late Monday.

Security officials in the occupied areas said at least 20 drones were used in the two attacks and that air defense units were activated. Russian news agencies quoted officials as saying that explosions were heard throughout the city of Donetsk.

A subterranean residential building in Makivka was hit by a drone, and videos on social media showed missile attacks, including on a former military surveillance systems factory in Donetsk.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on these attacks.

Russian forces control about 75 percent of the Donetsk region and are making efforts to capture the rest of it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech on Monday that Russian forces are focusing their attacks against the Ukrainian energy sector.

Zelensky's top adviser, Andriy Yermak, said he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Russian attacks on cities and residential buildings in Ukraine. He also participated in a video conference with the national security advisers of Britain, Germany, Italy and France to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

Yermak said Ukraine's stance in the face of Russian aggression must be strengthened after the attack on a government building over the weekend, which was hit during the largest Russian airstrike on Ukraine.

This was the first time since the start of the full-scale occupation in February 2022 that Russian forces struck a government building in Kiev.

"Putin understands only force, he does not want to stop the war. It is necessary to continue the pressure on the Russian Federation," Yermak wrote on Telegram.

Additional support for Ukraine, especially air defense and additional sanctions on Russia, were discussed with European advisers, Yermak said.

US President Donald Trump said over the weekend, without giving details, that he was ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia.

The EU sanctions envoy is in Washington with a team of experts to discuss the first coordinated steps between the European Union and the United States against Russia since Trump returned to office.

Trump, who promised when he took office in January to quickly end the war, has repeatedly set deadlines for Moscow to accept a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions, but has backed down from the threat each time.