Russian Strike Kills 17 in East Ukraine Market

A Russian strike killed at least 17 people at a market in east Ukraine Wednesday, officials said, in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky described as deliberate and "heinous".

The attack came hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unexpected trip to Kyiv, where he vowed Washington would stand "side by side" with Ukraine as it pressed ahead with its counteroffensive against Russia.

Projectiles tore through the centre of Kostiantynivka -- a town of nearly 70,000 people in the Donetsk region -- in one of the deadliest strikes in weeks.

"They smashed everything, all the shop windows, everything was strewn around," an eyewitness told AFP.

"Thank God we are alive, of course. But the girls who were selling there, they are all dead," the witness said.

Rescue workers picked through the debris and carried some of the wounded for treatment past charred vehicles and kiosks torn to pieces in the blast, according to images distributed by officials.

"Seventeen people were killed and 32 injured as a result of the Russian shelling," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, announcing the rescue operation had ended.

Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said a child was among those killed in the attack, which took place about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the front line.

"Anyone in the world who is still dealing with anything Russian simply ignores this reality," said Zelensky.

"Heinous evil. Brazen wickedness. Utter inhumanity." He later accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and said there 

were no military units "anywhere near" the scene._AP