At least three dead in Russian assaults on Ukraine cities, officials say

Russian forces have been making slow progress in their drive through Donetsk region, but both towns would be certain targets for Moscow if they made greater progress along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line. Further north in the town of Kupiansk, scene of heavy Russian attacks for months, one person was killed when a two-storey house was struck by Russian shells, the governor of Kharkiv region said.

Russian forces shelled and fired missiles at a series of cities in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least three people and leaving others under the rubble of shattered buildings, Ukrainian officials said. Two cities close to the front line in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region -- Kramatorsk and Slovyansk -- came under fire.

The city council in Kramatorsk said on Telegram that a missile hit a section of town used for industry and individual houses, killing two people. Rescuers were combing rubble for another person believed to be trapped beneath it. Kramatorsk has been the scene of some of the deadliest attacks in the nearly two-year-old war, including the a missile strike on the town's train station in April 2022 that killed 63 people.

Russian shells on Saturday struck a school in the nearby town of Slovyansk, with rescuer teams searching for at least one person trapped underneath piles of debris. Russian forces have been making slow progress in their drive through Donetsk region, but both towns would be certain targets for Moscow if they made greater progress along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line.

Further north in the town of Kupiansk, scene of heavy Russian attacks for months, one person was killed when a two-storey house was struck by Russian shells, the governor of Kharkiv region said. Reuters could not independently verify any of the reports, but they occurred in areas where Russian assaults are frequent.

Russia says it does not deliberately target civilian sites.