No let-up as Putin forces continue to kill civilians

RUSSIA continued to bombard Ukraine yesterday, killing at least three civilians as one of Vladimir Putin's henchmen claimed the war was started "to protect the people".

- Stephen Beech and Will Stewart

One strike on an apartment block in the eastern industrial city of Konstantynivka, Donetsk, triggered a huge blast.

Two people were reportedly killed and three wounded.

Another person perished and nine were injured by bombing raids further north in Sumy Oblast.

The attacks put into further doubt Putin's commitment to Donald Trump's peace mission, while Kremlin foreign minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Ukraine's government for the war.

Lavrov said: "We started the special military operation to protect to protect the people whom the regime declared terrorists and enemies."