Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said 17 people were killed, and another 32 were wounded
\nKYIV
\nA Russian missile struck an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, officials said.
\nThe deadly attack came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv and was expected to announce more than $1 billion in new American funding for Ukraine in the 18-month-old war.
\nAssociated Press journalists at the site of the attack in the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region saw covered bodies on the ground and emergency workers extinguishing fires at market stalls, with blackened and mangled cars nearby.
\nMinister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said 17 people were killed, and another 32 were wounded. The Defense Ministry said the market was hit by a ballistic missile.
\nFirefighters extinguished blazes that burned about 30 pavilions at the market, he added.
\nTwenty shops, power lines, an administrative building and the floor of an apartment building were damaged, according to the prosecutor general\u2019s office.
\nThe attack was another grim reminder of the war\u2019s civilian toll. \u201cA regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong,\u201d Zelensky said on his official Telegram channel.
\n\u201cThose who know this place are well aware that it is a civilian area,\u201d Zelensky said later at a news conference with visiting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. \u201cThere aren\u2019t any military units nearby. The strike was deliberate.\u201d
\nBlinken\u2019s visit was aimed at assessing Ukraine\u2019s 3-month-old counteroffensive and signaling continued US backing as some Western allies express worries about Kyiv\u2019s slow progress in driving out Russian forces, according to US officials.
\n\u201cWe want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long-term, to make sure that it has a strong deterrent,\u201d Blinken said. \u201cWe\u2019re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, strong democracy.\u201d
\nBlinken was set to pledge more than $1 billion in new US funding, a senior State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the announcement before it was made.
\nThe money would be for \u201ca range\u201d of investments, the official said, without elaborating.
\nRoughly $275 million will be military aid, including depleted uranium tank rounds that had been a subject of internal administration debate until Tuesday, according to another US official.
\nAbout $175 million of the total will be in the form of weaponry to be provided from Pentagon stockpiles, the official said. Another $100 million will be in the form of grants to allow the Ukrainians to purchase additional arms and equipment, the official said, also on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said 17 people were killed, and another 32 were wounded KYIV A Russian missile struck an outdoor market in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens, officials said. The deadly attack came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv and was expected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-354284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n