- Rescue workers dig through rubble and recover bodies
- Dozens dead in Russian attack on village, Kiev says
- President Zelensky denounces “Russian terror”.
- Zelensky calls for more air defense at the summit in Spain
HROZA, Ukraine, Oct 5 (Portal) – A Russian missile struck a cafe and grocery store in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, reducing the building to rubble and killing 51 people during a memorial ceremony, Ukrainian officials said.
Large piles of bricks as well as broken metal and building materials remained where the cafe and shop in the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region were hit in the early afternoon.
The attack was the deadliest in the Kharkiv region since the Russian invasion more than 19 months ago, a regional official told public broadcaster Suspilne. It also appeared to be one of the highest civilian deaths in a single Russian attack.
“There are about 330 people living in this settlement,” regional governor Oleh Synehubov said on national television, compared to 500 before Russia began invading Ukraine in February 2022.
“In fact, a fifth of this village died in a single terrorist attack.”
Synehubov said children were among the victims as their families remained in the village despite a war-related evacuation order. The village was near the town of Kupiansk, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces late last year, and very close to one of the war’s front lines.
Rescue workers made their way through piles of rubble and laid bodies out in a field next to a children’s playground.
Some were put in white body bags and taken away. Others were barely covered by carpet or other materials, their hands sticking out awkwardly.
A spokesman for the regional rescue service said on Telegram that the search for survivors had been completed and the death toll stood at 51 dead and six injured.
“We heard the explosion and then people said it happened in Hroza, so we came because we knew my mother was here,” Valeriia Herasymenko said as rescue efforts progressed. “A memorial service was held at the cafe.”
[1/3]Rescuers work at the site of a Russian military attack in the village of Hroza in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 5, 2023. Portal/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy ACQUIRES LICENSE RIGHTS
Rocket hits during the funeral service
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said local officials were eating during the church service when the rocket hit.
“People from every family, from every household were present at this memorial service. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.
Klymenko cited preliminary information that the attack was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile.
He said the attack was clearly very targeted and that Ukrainian security services had launched an investigation into the matter.
“The terrorists deliberately carried out the attack at lunchtime to ensure the highest possible number of victims,” said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
“There were no military targets there. This is a heinous crime designed to scare Ukrainians.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky, attending a summit with European leaders in Spain, said that “Russian terror should be stopped.”
“Now we are talking to European leaders in particular about strengthening our air defense, about strengthening our soldiers, about protecting our country from terror,” he said in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
Russia has carried out frequent air strikes since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive in the south and east that it says is making gradual progress.
Moscow initially did not comment on the events in Hroza. Moscow denies targeting civilians, but many were killed in attacks that hit residential areas as well as energy, defense, port, grain and other facilities.
Additional reporting by Olena Harmash and Yuliia Dysa, editing by Timothy Heritage, Andrew Heavens, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio
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