Moscow, 21 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - At least 13 people have been killed in the shelling of a market in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.

The Russian-backed leader of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said on Sunday that another 10 people were injured in the attack. He said Ukrainian forces had shelled the market on Sunday morning when it was busy with shoppers.

The Ukrainian military did not immediately comment.

Some Ukrainian media also disseminated photos and videos of a devastated market. The mayor of occupied Donetsk, Alexey Kulemzin, spoke of a "barbaric attack" on a civilian area of the city by the Ukrainian armed forces.

Ukrainian forces have repeatedly vowed to drive occupying Russian troops from the area and retake the city. The surrounding region remains contested between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with active fighting along the front lines.

Fighting first broke out in Donetsk in 2014 between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. The fighting came after the Russian-friendly Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in mass protests.

In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin initially recognized the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine as independent states.

Putin then cited the defence of Russian citizens there as a justification for launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine that month.

In the fall of 2022, Putin annexed the regions - together with the partially occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions - and incorporated them into the Russian Federation.