MOSCOW, March 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Moscow-installed official on Friday said Ukrainian shelling of the Russian-held city of Donetsk killed three children.

Russia claims to have annexed the Donetsk region, even though it does not have full control of it and the frontline regional capital comes under frequent shelling attacks.

"As a result of barbaric overnight shelling ... a direct hit was recorded on a house in the residential sector," Alexey Kulemzin, the Russian-appointed mayor of Donetsk, said in a post on Telegram.

"Three children died. A girl born in 2007, a girl born in 2021, and a boy born in 2014," he added.

Russian forces last month captured the city of Avdiivka -- just a few kilometres to the north of Donetsk -- and says pushing Ukrainian forces back will help protect residents of areas under its control from shelling.

The city centre of Donetsk is around 20 kilometres from the frontlines.

The Donetsk region has been at war since 2014 when Russian-backed separatists started an armed conflict to try to secede from Ukraine following a pro-EU revolution in Kyiv.