Ukrainian residents of a bombed village in the Donetsk region recounted on Tuesday the harrowing moments of the attack and sudden loss of loved ones.

A Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern Ukraine as people stood in line in the open air to collect their monthly pension. Authorities say the blast Tuesday killed at least 24 people and injured 19 others.

The bomb hit the village of Yarova at around 11 a.m. local time, authorities said.

The village lies less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from the front line.

It was the latest Russian attack to kill civilians.

Yarova resident Hennadii Trush said his wife was killed in the blast as she waited to collect the pension of her bedridden mother-in-law.

Afterwards, Hennadii fled Yarova with his elderly mother, who was carried out on a stretcher.

In shock and with soot still on his face, Trush wept as he described the scene of the attack.

“It was beyond words,” he told The Associated Press.

“Before, strikes landed on the outskirts. This time it was right in the center of the village," he added.

Pavlo Diachenko, head of communications for the Donetsk regional police, said he arrived at the scene shortly after the strike.

“The picture was horrific — the whole village was on fire,” he told AP.

Yarova is located north of the Donetsk city of Lyman, an area where Russia has intensified attacks recently as it probes for weaknesses in Ukrainian defenses and seeks to advance into the northern part of the region.

Despite the risks, many people remain in their homes because they have no means of relocating or they need to care for elderly relatives with disabilities.

AP Video shot by Vasilisa Stepanenko