Fourteen other people were injured in the attack, which also damaged four apartment buildings and a hotel, said Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
“Rescuers and law enforcement officers are working at the scene of the tragedy to help people and carefully document another crime by the Russian occupiers on our land,” he wrote on Telegram.
Twisted metal and charred remains of household items and at least one car were strewn across the yard as rescuers worked to clear the rubble. Fresh bloodstains were also visible.
Factory worker Iryna Maltseva, 42, said she was watching television when the explosion rang out violently in her living room.
“I opened my eyes and everything blew,” she said. “I was covered in blood. Mother was sitting in the bedroom, also covered in blood.”
Earlier on Saturday, Kyrylenko said that at least four people were killed and seven wounded across the region by Russian attacks in the last 24 hours.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that the situation at the front remained “extremely acute”, particularly in the Donetsk region where Russia is increasing the offensive.
Moscow invaded Ukraine last February but in recent weeks the fighting has reduced to a battle of attrition with neither side making significant gains.
Kiev has repeatedly warned that Russian forces would attempt another offensive sometime in the coming weeks or months.
(Reporting by Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey and Dan Peleschuk; Writing by Dan PeleschukEditing by Alison Williams and Angus MacSwan)
By Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey
