Ukraine accuses local man of directing missile strike that killed 10 at popular pizza restaurant

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities arrested on Wednesday a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 10 people, including three teenagers, at a popular pizza restaurant in east Ukraine.

The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded 61 other people, Ukraine's National Police said, in the latest bombardment of a Ukrainian city, a tactic Russia has used heavily in the 16-month-old war.

The strike, and others elsewhere across Ukraine late Tuesday and early Wednesday, indicated that the Kremlin is not easing its aerial onslaught despite its political and military turmoil caused by a short-lived armed uprising last weekend.

There has been no apparent military push by Ukraine to exploit that turmoil, though the government has been tight-lipped about recent battlefield developments as it seeks to gain momentum in its recently launched counteroffensive.

The Kremlin reeled from the weekend mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries which has played a key role for Russia in Ukraine. The rebellion was the gravest threat so far to Russian President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.

Prigozhin went into exile in neighbouring Belarus on Tuesday, according to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, after Russia said he wouldn't face charges for the revolt. Prigozhin's whereabouts could not be independently confirmed.

Two sisters, both age 14, died in the Kramatorsk attack, the city council's educational department said. “Russian missiles stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels,” it said in a Telegram post.

The other dead teenager was 17, according to Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.

The attack also damaged 18 multistorey buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping centre, an administrative building and a recreational building, regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Rescuers are still searching the rubble for bodies and more survivors.

Officials initially blamed the strike in Kramatorsk on an S-300 missile, a surface-to-air weapon that Russia's forces have repurposed for loosely targeted strikes on cities, but the National Police later said Iskander short-range ballistic missiles were used.

Kramatorsk is a front-line city that houses the Ukrainian army's regional headquarters.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.