Death toll of Lyman attack in Ukraine rises to nine

Kyiv [Ukraine], July 9 : The death toll in the attack on the Ukrainian city of Lyman has risen to at least nine, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday citing the authorities.

The city, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces last year, was rocketed by Russian troops, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Ukrainian military administration in the Donetsk region.

According to him, the residential blocks were explicitly targeted in the attack on Saturday.

Earlier the toll was reported as eight people killed and thirteen were injured in the Russian shelling in Ukraine that took place on Saturday, CNN reported citing the Ukrainian officials.

The shelling took place around 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET). Russian forces launched multiple launch rocket systems towards the town, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the chief of the military administration for the Donetsk area.

A house and a store were damaged as a result of the shelling that struck a private residential area, according to CNN.

Police and emergency services are on the site for rescue work, Kyrylenko added. According to the interior ministry of Ukraine, firefighters put out fires in three vehicles, a nearby shop and a private residential property.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine began 500 days ago on February 24 last year. Since then, numerous people have been displaced and killed. Quoting Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office on Saturday, CNN reported that at least 494 children have been killed and 1,051 injured since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.