STORY: Emergency services assisted a man, who was groaning in pain, and a woman before they were loaded onto an ambulance and taken away.

Rescuers combed through debris scattered along residential streets, that were pierced by large craters caused by the Russian missile strikes overnight.

Eighteen patients were brought to the local hospital, according to a doctor there.

The strikes killed at least three people and wounded 18. An apartment building was destroyed and nine others were damaged.

Kramatorsk is close to the front line in eastern Ukraine and many residents have fled or regularly take shelter in cellars, which may have saved lives compared with similar attacks elsewhere. A missile strike on an apartment block in the central city of Dnipro two weeks ago killed at least 44 people.

The police force said the apartments in the city of Kramatorsk were hit by an Iskander-K tactical missile at 9.45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT) on Wednesday (February 1).