Ukraine says a family of nine were shot and killed in their home in the Russian-occupied eastern town of Volnovakha.

Photographs of the home issued by authorities depict a gruesome crime scene, with the victims lying dead in their beds amid blood-splattered walls.

The Ukrainian-backed prosecutor’s office in Donetsk province, home to Volnovakha, says the murders occurred after the owner refused a demand by a group of men in military uniforms to vacate the house so Russians forces could stay there.  The office says the victims include two young children. 

Russian investigators say two soldiers from Russia’s Far East are being held in connection with the murders. The soldiers had signed contracts with Russia’s military to serve in Ukraine.  

Volnovakha has been occupied by Russian forces shortly after they launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  Pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk regions took over government buildings in 2014 and proclaimed the regions as independent “people’s republics.”

The move followed Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The murders come as Ukrainian and Russian troops are engaged in a fierce standoff in eastern Ukraine as the war stretches into its second year.

Russian forces have launched a new offensive campaign around the city of Bakhmut, especially near the strategic town of Avdiivka.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive begun in June has made slow progress, recapturing several hundred square kilometers of territory.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters. 

 
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