‘No blind strike’: Ukraine says Russian missile has killed at least 51 in village cafe attack

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Key Points
  • Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile hit a cafe in the northeastern Ukraine village of Hroza.
  • At least 51 people were killed in the blast, which took place during a memorial service.
  • The attack was the deadliest in the Kharkiv region since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began more than 19 months ago.
A Russian missile slammed into 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 service, Ukrainian officials said.
Large piles of bricks and shattered metal and building materials remained where the cafe and shop were hit early in the afternoon in Hroza village in Kharkiv region.

The attack was the deadliest in the Kharkiv region since Russia’s invasion more than 19 months ago, a regional official told public broadcaster Suspilne. It also appeared to be one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike.

Man in grey and navy blue puffer jacket and tracksuit pants sits on a plank of wood with his head hung low. Emergency crews gather in the distance behind him.

Local residents at the site of a military strike in the village of Hroza. Source: EPA / Yavik Lyashenko

“This settlement has about 330 people,” regional Governor Oleh Synehubov said on national television, compared to 500 before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“In fact, one-fifth of this village has died (in the attack).”
Synehubov said children were among the casualties as their families had remained in the village despite a war-time order to evacuate.

The village was near the town of Kupiansk, recaptured by Ukrainian forces late last year and quite close one of the war’s front lines.

Emergency service crews walk through rubble and damage following missile strike.

Emergency services working at the site of a military strike in the village of Hroza. Source: EPA / Pavlo Pakhomenko

Rescue workers made their way through mounds of debris and laid out bodies in a field next to a children’s playground.

Some were placed in white body bags and taken away. Others were barely covered by carpets or other materials, with hands awkwardly protruding.

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.

Red car with cracked window sits in dirt, surrounded by rubble.

A view of a damaged car as rescue works continue at the site of a military strike in the village of Hroza. Source: EPA / Yavik Lyashenko

“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 proceeded. “A memorial service was being held in the cafe.”

Missile hits during memorial service

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said local officials had been sitting down for a meal at the service when the missile struck.

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

Klymenko cited preliminary information that he said showed the attack was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile.
He said the strike was clearly very targeted and that Ukrainian security services had launched an investigation into the matter.

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

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was attending a summit with European leaders in Spain, said the attack was “no blind strike” and Russian troops could not have been unaware of where they were striking.

Russia has frequently carried out air strikes since in February 2022, and Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive in the south and east that it says is gradually making progress.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the events in Hroza. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but civilians have been killed in attacks that have hit residential areas as well as energy, defence, port, grain and other facilities.

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