Russia’s Smerch Rocket Hits Family Home in Donetsk Region, Killing Three and Injuring Four

Three civilians, including a 13-year-old girl, were killed and four others injured in a Russian strike on a residential area in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on October 12.

The Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported that Russian forces attacked the settlement of Cherkaske in the Kramatorsk district at approximately 11:15 a.m., using a Smerch multiple-launch rocket system.

According to prosecutors, a Russian projectile struck a private residential property, completely destroying the house.

The attack killed three members of the same family: a 36-year-old woman, a 62-year-old grandmother, and her 13-year-old granddaughter.

Four others sustained injuries, including three men and the deceased woman's 18-year-old son.

The BM-30 Smerch is a Soviet-designed 300 mm multiple-launch rocket system capable of striking targets at distances of up to 70–90 kilometers, depending on the ammunition used. Its rockets can carry high-explosive fragmentation or cluster warheads, allowing attacks across large areas.

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War in Ukraine

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Under the procedural supervision of the Kramatorsk District Prosecutor’s Office, authorities have launched a pretrial investigation into a suspected war crime under Part 2 of Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.

The strike on Cherkaske came days after one of the deadliest recent attacks in the Kramatorsk area. On October 8, a Russian strike on a passenger bus in Kramatorsk killed at least 33 people and injured 18 others.

Russian forces struck settlements across the Donetsk region 31 times that day, killing civilians in Zelene, Sloviansk, and Vesela Hora. Authorities evacuated 256 people from frontline areas, including 32 children.

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