At a Bustling Market in Ukraine, a Huge Fireball Leaves Scenes of Carnage

When Vadym Zgonnik was strolling by the outside market in Kostyantynivka, Ukraine, along with his spouse and 6-year-old daughter on Wednesday afternoon, it was at first a bustling scene very similar to another afternoon.

Then an enormous fireball struck the market after a Russian missile assault, destroying a number of buildings, sending dozens fleeing for canopy and killing greater than a dozen others.

“I was pulling one woman,” mentioned Mr. Zgonnik, 28. “I wanted to pull her into the building. Then I saw another woman burning. She was on fire; her leg was burning.”

He rapidly fled along with his spouse and daughter.

By Wednesday night, the dying toll had reached 17, together with one little one. More than 30 different folks have been injured, two severely, officers mentioned. It was one of many deadliest strikes to hit Ukraine in months.

The assault clouded Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s unannounced go to to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, the identical day, one of many highest-level visits by a U.S. official to there since President Biden visited in February. Mr. Blinken met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, introduced greater than $1 billion in new U.S. assist for Ukraine and praised its folks’s valor and resilience within the face of what he referred to as Russia’s “horrific” aggression.

The Ukrainian prosecutor’s workplace mentioned {that a} search-and-rescue operation was underway Kostyantynivka and that some folks remained below the rubble. The assault, it added, broken 20 retailers, in addition to administrative and residential buildings.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine greater than 18 months in the past, Russia has unleashed large-scale barrages of missiles, rockets and drones at cities and cities away from the entrance line, in a marketing campaign meant partly to destroy civilian infrastructure and in addition apparently aimed to terrorize and demoralize the native inhabitants.

In June, a missile tore right into a crowded restaurant that was fashionable with troopers, overseas journalists and assist employees in Kramatorsk, 15 miles north of Kostyantynivka. That assault killed 13 folks and injured dozens extra.

The battle has lengthy been a each day actuality within the metropolis. It lies about 15 miles west of the frontline metropolis of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May. In April, Russian shelling killed six civilians in Kostyantynivka and wounded 11 others.

Denise Brown, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, condemned the Wednesday assault in an announcement, including that deliberately directing an assault in opposition to civilians or launching one realizing it could trigger disproportionate civilian hurt was a battle crime.

“International humanitarian law must be respected,” she mentioned. “The people of Ukraine need this cruel devastation to stop.”

People had been wandering by a small maze of shops promoting greens, native honey and {hardware} when the assault occurred. The aroma of rotisserie hen and kebab was wafting previous produce stands and clothes stalls. One store offered Ukrainian army uniforms and different war-related objects.

Mr. Zgonnik was close to his personal retailer, the place he offered sizzling canines, hamburgers and ice cream, when, round 2 p.m., he heard a piercing whistle over the standard chatter. And then, quickly after, an explosion erupted.

By Wednesday night, the darkish smoky plumes from the fires had settled on the market, leaving scorched storefronts and charred picket buildings. The skeletal stays of singed autos have been deserted on mud and soaked sidewalks, the place firefighters had extinguished buildings engulfed in flames. Reminders of the market’s earlier vibrancy lay scattered on the sidewalks amid swimming pools of blood: child wipes, produce stacked in packing containers, a stray sandal.

About a dozen folks stood behind police tape. Some have been shopkeepers trying to salvage what they may from the rubble. Mr. Zgonnik was amongst them, having returned to see what was left of his retailer and the market.

“The scary thing is that I know all the people who were there — all of them,” he mentioned. “Three of them burned, just burned.”

Others on the web site have been trying to find relations, hoping they weren’t among the many our bodies mendacity within the rubble or being carried out by rescue employees in black physique baggage.

Pugach Olena, 26, mentioned she believed certainly one of her seven sisters, Samarkina Valeriia, who ran a stall on the market, had died within the assault.

Ms. Olena had been at residence when she received a name from one other sister concerning the blast. Terrified, she drove to the market.

“I arrived; it was all in smoke,” she mentioned. “I ran; it was impossible to get there. I went around to the other side and saw that her kiosk was on fire. There were bodies lying there. Her kiosk and the one next to it were burned.”

Ms. Olena was advised to search for her sister on the morgue.

It was exhausting to determine folks there, she mentioned. Two have been so severely burned that they have been unrecognizable. She introduced her mom, and so they each took DNA assessments to assist with an identification.

It shall be two days, Ms. Olena was advised, till the household may have its reply.

Anastasia Kuznietsova and Marc Santora contributed reporting.