Russia continues terrorising Ukraine’s civilian population. Today’s heinous and barbaric missile attack on a market area in Kostyantynivka in Donetsk region killed at least 16 people, including a child and injured dozens others.

This attack follows an escalation over the past months of missile and drone attacks all over Ukraine, especially on civilian objects, killing and wounding more than 410 civilians over the past two weeks alone. It comes in addition to Russia’s daily indiscriminate shelling and bombing near the frontlines causing hundreds of civilian victims. The EU strongly condemns these attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and calls on Russia to stop immediately its inhumane and illegal aggression.

Russia also intensified attacks on key facilities for the export of Ukrainian grain including in the Odesa and Danube areas with the latest attack taking place last night. This further demonstrates how Russia is exacerbating the global food security crisis with its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, but also puts at full display Russia’s logic of maximising its economic profits at the expense of Ukraine, putting deliberately at risk millions of most vulnerable people worldwide.  

Intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes. All commanders, perpetrators and accomplices of these atrocities will be held to account.