Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has announced that workers have recovered 15 bodies from the rubble following a Ukrainian military attack on a building housing a bakery in the city of Lishychansk in the occupied Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
The ministry released footage on Saturday of paramedics carrying two people covered in blood on stretchers from the ruins of the building. The company previously said its employees rescued 10 people and handed them over to doctors.
Leonid Pashechnik, the Lugansk governor who was sworn in by Moscow, said Kiev had targeted bakeries known for offering fresh bread on weekends.
RIA Novosti released a video of a heavily damaged building showing emergency workers pulling out a completely destroyed car.
The one-story building had a large sign that read “Restaurant Adriatic” and appeared to be completely destroyed and covered in rubble.
Ukrainian authorities have not released anything regarding the incident.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “dozens of civilians” were inside the building at the time of the attack and that Western weapons were used.
The Russian-controlled Luhansk Information Center said Ukraine used a US-supplied high-mobility artillery rocket system to shell the bakery.
Pashechnik, who was appointed by the Russian government to head Ukraine’s Luhansk region, said dozens of people may be trapped under the rubble.
The Ministry of Emergencies said search and rescue operations would continue into the night.
Before the Russian offensive, Lishchansk’s population was about 111,000.
Russia captured the country’s twin city of Sibierodonetsk in the summer of 2022, after the bloodiest battle in a nearly two-year offensive.
Reuters and AFP contributed to this report
