A ninth person was found dead on Saturday under the rubble of an apartment building in Sloviansk , in eastern Ukraine, that was bombed the day Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law facilitating the call-up of young people to serve in the ranks of the army.

"Unfortunately, during the night, the death toll increased. Rescuers pulled the body of a woman from under the rubble," wrote the head of the Sloviansk military department, Vadim Liakh, on Facebook.

He pointed out that five people are still trapped under the rubble, while 21 people were injured. An earlier toll reported that at least eight people were killed.

Among the victims was a two-year-old boy who was pulled alive from the rubble by rescue personnel before he breathed his last in the ambulance, according to what was confirmed by the advisor to the Ukrainian President, Daria Zarevna, on Telegram.

Sloviansk is located in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, but is close to Russian-controlled territory.

On Friday, the city was targeted, according to the Ukrainian presidency, with seven missiles that destroyed five buildings, five homes, a school and an administrative building.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of "brutally" bombing residential buildings and "killing people in broad daylight".
The Donetsk region prosecutor's office said in a statement that a preliminary investigation had been opened for violations of the laws and rules of war.

"According to preliminary information, the occupiers used S-300 anti-aircraft missiles against the civilian population," the statement said.
Agence France-Presse correspondents saw rescuers searching for survivors on the last floor of an apartment building and black smoke billowing from the burning houses across the street.

"I live across the street and I was sleeping when I heard a loud explosion," Larissa, 59, told AFP.

In Moscow, on Friday, Putin signed a law facilitating the call-up of young people to serve in the army, in a text approved by Parliament in just two days.

The new law allows reservists to be mobilized electronically, through the portal of Russian government institutions, or when the summon order is notified to another person, after the summon order should have been delivered to the person personally.

In September 2022, Putin issued a decree mobilizing 300,000 reservists, the implementation of which was, for the most part, messy.
The new law has sparked discontent among some residents who find it paves the way for a new wave of conscription despite the Kremlin's denials, as Russia struggles with its offensive into Ukraine and the Ukrainian army prepares a massive counter-offensive.

The police will be able to hunt down those who fail to respond to the summons and who may be sentenced to imprisonment, and the tax department, universities and other public bodies have a duty to provide personal information about the mobilization soldiers.

Consequently, failure to apply to the recruitment office will deprive the Russians concerned of working in the field of business or in liberal professions, obtaining loans, and the freedom to control their homes and cars. These measures also include Russians who have fled work and are working remotely.

The conscription movement in September 2022 caused tens of thousands of Russians to flee abroad.

The bombing of Sloviansk came after Russia announced on Friday that its forces were fighting battles to control the western regions of Bakhmut, where fighting has been raging for months.

And on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that fighters from the Wagner armed group are advancing towards the city, with the support of the Russian Air Force.

"The Wagner offensive units are engaged in intensive combat operations to take control of the western areas of the city," the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The statement indicated that the Russian airborne forces "support the offensive teams and curb the enemy's attempts to deliver ammunition to the city and involve reserve elements."

Ukraine pledged to continue to defend Bakhmut. But on the ground, Ukrainian sources told AFP near the city that the Ukrainian army was in a "difficult" situation.

On the diplomatic level, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the United States to stop "encouraging war" in Ukraine and start "talking about peace."

He added that the international community could then "convince" Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that "peace is in the interest of the whole world."