New York, Ukraine - A Russian guided bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of New York wounded at least three people and destroyed six three-story buildings, officials said on Tuesday.

Ukraine has seen a steep rise in civilian casualties since December as Russia intensifies air attacks, reversing a downward trend seen earlier in 2023, the United Nations has warned.

"Three people are currently known to be wounded. Five more are probably under the rubble. Six three-story buildings and five private houses were destroyed," the interior ministry said.

Rescuers combed through the rubble of what appeared to be the collapsed section of an apartment block overnight, photos published by the ministry showed.

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New York (sometimes spelled Niu-York), in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, found itself on the front line of Ukraine's war with Russian-backed separatists in 2014 and remains close to the fighting.

The town is thought to have been founded by members of the Mennonite Church who settled in the region under Catherine the Great, but the origin of its name remains a mystery.

It was renamed Novgorodske ("New Town") by the Soviet authorities for ideological reasons in 1951, and reclaimed the moniker New York following a vote by Ukrainian lawmakers in 2021.