MELITOPOL, September 30. /TASS/. Twenty-four people were killed and 36 more were wounded, including a child, after Ukraine’s forces shelled a caravan of vehicles with civilians who wanted to flee the Kiev-controlled zone of the Zaporozhye Region, Vladimir Rogov, who chairs the We Are Together with Russia movement, said on Friday.

"There are 24 people killed, 36 wounded, including a child," he stated.

Earlier, Energodar’s military-civilian administration reported that a column of vehicles wanting to cross over to the liberated zone of the Zaporozhye Region was shelled by Ukrainian forces on the outskirts of Zaporozhye. Rogov said it consisted of about 10 cars.

Head of the Zaporozhye Region’s Military-Civilian Administration Yevgeny Balitsky said that the attack carried out against the convoy of vehicles was a direct strike intended to slaughter civilians.

"People were leaving Zaporozhye heading to our territories in the direction of Energodar through the Vasilyevka checkpoint. The Kiev regime tried to destroy people who wished to return to the safe territory of Russia," he explained.

"This was a deliberate extermination of the civilian population… We extended our sincere condolences to the families of those killed," Balitsky added.

Local residents at the scene of the attack reported about 15 explosions caused by artillery shells, he noted.

Russia has recognized the independence of the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decrees published by the government’s official legal database on Friday.

One document recognizes "state sovereignty and independence of the Zaporozhye Region" and the other recognizes that of the Kherson Region. Both decrees came into force on the day they were signed.

From September 23 to September 27, the two Donbass republics, namely the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as well as the Kherson Region and the liberated areas of the Zaporozhye Region held a referendum where the majority of voters opted to join Russia as separate constituent members.

On Wednesday, the leaders of the four regions submitted their official requests to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking to be admitted to Russia.