Dozens killed as Russian missile hits cafe, shop in Ukraine

At least 51 people were killed when a Russian missile struck a cafe and grocery store in a hamlet in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday while they were holding a memorial service, according to Ukrainian officials.

Oleh Synehubov, the regional governor, reported that the cafe and shop in Hroza village, in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, had been attacked and reduced to ruins early in the afternoon.

Authorities shared video of rescuers scrambling amid smoking rubble while appearing confused. In other images, people were seen laying next to twisted metal and concrete slabs, while in other images, bodies were being removed by rescue personnel.

Ihor Klymenko, the interior minister, said that the 330-person village’s residents were attending a memorial service and eating in the damaged cafe at the time of the attack.

“From every family, from every household, there were people present at this commemoration. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

According to a representative for the Kharkiv regional military administration, the attack was the bloodiest in the Kharkiv region since Russia’s invasion more than 19 months ago, according to Ukrainian state TV Suspilne.

Additionally, it appeared to be one of the highest numbers of civilian fatalities from a single Russian attack since the conflict began.

Klymenko cited unreliable sources to support his claim that an Iskander ballistic missile was used in the attack.

He claimed that the attack was obviously very targeted and that Ukrainian security agencies have started an investigation.

“The terrorists deliberately carried out the attack during lunchtime, to ensure a maximum number of casualties,” said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.

“There were no military targets there. This is a heinous crime intended to scare Ukrainians.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declared that “the Russian terror should be stopped” while in Spain for a summit with European leaders.

“Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defence, about strengthening our soldiers, about giving our country protection from terror,” he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Since beginning its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has routinely conducted airstrikes, and Ukraine has started a counteroffensive in the south and east that it claims is steadily gaining progress.

Regarding the circumstances in Hroza, Moscow remained silent right away. Although numerous people have died in assaults on residential areas as well as energy, defence, port, grain, and other installations, Moscow maintains that civilians were not deliberately targeted.

(With agency inputs)