A devastating Russian missile strike killed at least 51 people, including a 6-year-old boy, who gathered for a wake at a cafe in a small eastern Ukrainian village — with harrowing images showing mangled bodies littering the ground.
Photos taken in the aftermath of the attack on the village of Hroza — the deadliest in the Kharkiv region since the start of the war – displayed at least a dozen bodies coated in a thick layer of ash and dirt resting in a yard next to a playground.
Some of the victims appeared to be burned beyond recognition, with their skin scorched black showing through the rags of their clothing shredded by the force of the blast. Several bloodied corpses appeared to be missing limbs.
Rescue workers packed some of the victims into white body bags and took them away. Others were draped with carpets or other fabrics, with hands sticking out at grotesque angles.
At the spot where the café and store once stood, all that was left were piles of bricks and twisted metal.
The victims, which included village officials, had been sitting down for a meal at a memorial service for a dead relative when the missile struck, said Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko
Ukrainian policemen carry bodies out of a destroyed shop and cafe after a Russian strike in the village of Groza, eastern Ukraine. AFP via Getty Images
A medical worker reacts as he stands near dead bodies at a site of a Russian military strike in the village of Hroza, Kharkiv region. REUTERS
At least 49 civilians were killed Thursday in a Russian rocket strike on a village store in eastern Ukraine. AP“From every family, from every household, there were people present at this commemoration. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.
The attack appeared to have caused one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike.
This is one of the deadliest attacks in recent months that came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a summit of around 50 European leaders in Spain, according to reports. AP
A photo showed bodies lying near a destroyed shop after a Russian strike in the village of Groza, about 30 kilometers west of Kupiansk. KHAKIV REGIONAL PROSECUTOR'S OFF/AFP via Getty Images“This settlement has about 330 people,” regional Governor Oleh Synehubov said on national television. “In fact, one-fifth of this village has died in a single terrorist attack.”
Children were among the dead because their families had decided to stay in the village despite an order to evacuate, Synehubov said.
Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said a 6-year-old boy was among the dead. KHAKIV REGIONAL PROSECUTOR'S OFF/AFP via Getty Images
Bodies are seen at a playground in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv region. REUTERSThe village, which had a pre-war population of 500 people, is located not far from the front lines in the direction of the town of Kupyansk, which Kyiv’s forces had recaptured from the Russians last year.
A spokesman for regional emergency services said on Telegram the search for survivors had been concluded with the death toll standing at 51 dead and six injured.
Based on preliminary information, the attack was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile and was targeted, Klymenko said.
Rescuers were seen working on debris at a destroyed shop after a Russian strike in the village of Groza. KHAKIV REGIONAL PROSECUTOR'S OFF/AFP via Getty Images“The terrorists deliberately carried out the attack during lunchtime, to ensure a maximum number of casualties,” said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. “There were no military targets there. This is a heinous crime intended to scare Ukrainians.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was attending a summit with European leaders in Granada, Spain, Thursday, denounced the attack in Hroza as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.”
Zelensky denounced the attack on the store and cafe in the village of Hroza as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.” APHe urged Western allies to help bolster Ukraine’s air defenses, saying that “Russian terror must be stopped.”
“Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defense, about strengthening our soldiers, about giving our country protection from terror,” he said in a post on the Telegram.
With Post wires
