Russian strikes on Donetsk Oblast kill 2, including child, injure 7.

Russian strikes on several settlements in Donetsk Oblast on Oct.

12 killed two people, including an 11-year-old boy, and injured seven other residents, the Prosecutor General's Office reported. The child was killed in a Russian strike on the village of Bahatyr in the Volnovakha district, the report said. His six-year-old brother sustained injuries to his torso, and his 31-year-old mother was hospitalized with multiple lacerations, according to the prosecutors.

Russian forces also targeted Avdiivka, a front-line town currently facing heavy ground assaults and regular shelling and air strikes. A 58-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman suffered shrapnel wounds in today's attacks against Avdiivka, the prosecutors reported. In the strike on the village of Halytsynivka in the Pokrovsk district, a 32-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman were reportedly injured.

Russian forces attacked the town of Hirnyk in the same district, killing a 44-year-old woman and injuring her 24-year-old son-in-law, the prosecutors said. Donetsk Oblast, partially occupied by Russian forces since 2014, suffers regular attacks, and local officials report losses among the civilian population virtually on a daily basis.

Ukraine faces onslaught at Avdiivka as Russia launches new offensive After months of a relative static siege, Russian forces launched a heavy assault in the direction of the front-line town of Avdiivka, backed up by armor, artillery, and air strikes.

The Ukrainian military has reported unusually heavy fighting over the past three days as Russia encroaches on the mos...

Martin Fornusek

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.