The National Police has reported that Ukrainian authorities attempted to evacuate five civilians from Bakhmut, the destroyed city under constant fire.
The National Police adds that Russia attacked the fleeing civilians, resulting in a woman being killed. The elderly woman was attempting to flee together with her son, who was also in the vehicle. He survived the attack.
According to the National Police, the evacuated civilians were trapped in a shelter, and were deprived of food.
Bakhmut has been the epicenter of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces for the past nine months. Wagner mercenaries have served as the primary shock troops in Russia's attempts to expand its control over Donetsk Oblast.
However, in the past nine months, they have only made incremental gains, with Ukraine still holding some parts of the city.
Russian forces didn't yet manage to get a hold of the exit road from Bakhmut, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on April 29.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
