Ukrainian officials said at least 50 people were killed, including a six-year-old boy, after a Russian missile attack in the eastern village of Hroza, near Kupiansk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region Thursday (October 5).
The attack was deemed by many as one of the deadliest since the war between Russia and Ukraine began.
Death by Missile After a Funeral
According to Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov, Russian missiles targeted a cafe and a shop in the village at around 13:15 local time (10:15 UTC), leaving a massive heap of rubble in its wake.
The bodies of the deceased were removed from the scene for identification and burial, Synehubov added.
An additional six people who were injured are being treated in hospital.
Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko also alleged that most of the victims in the cafe were mourners attending a wake after a funeral.
It is unclear what weapon was used to carry out the assault in the town, but the Associated Press quoted Ukrainian authorities' preliminary suspicion that the village was hit by an Iskander missile.
In retaliation, Ukrainian drones targeted several infrastructure facilities in several areas in Russia's Kursk region. Ukrainian forces have also shelled the Russian border town of Rylsk, wounding a resident and damaging several houses.
Zelensky: Attack was a 'Brutal' Crime
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as "a demonstrably brutal Russian crime" that was "completely deliberate." He also said the Kremlin needed such attacks to "make its genocidal aggression the new normal for the whole world."
"Russian terror must be stopped," he told reporters and world leaders on the sidelines of a European leaders' summit in the southern Spanish city of Granada. "Anyone who helps Russia circumvent sanctions is a criminal. Everyone who still supports Russia is supporting evil."
Zelensky's business in Spain is to solicit further material and diplomatic support from European countries to repel the Russians from their lands.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called the attack "brutal and cynical" and must be stopped in a "coordinated and united manner" alongside Kyiv's allies.
"It is impossible to describe this horror in words," he posted on Telegram. "We must stop the Russian terror so that enemy missiles and shells do not take any more lives or injure any more people."
