Dozens of civilians died, at least 51 , in the Russian attack on Groza, a village in the Kupiansk district which is located in the Kharkiv region . Among these was also a six-year-old boy.
The missile, probably an Iskander, hit the grocery store and the bar where around sixty Ukrainians had gathered for the funeral wake of a missing fellow villager.
The precision with which the rocket hit the place full of civilians made Interior Minister Igor Klimenko doubt whether the instructions to strike actually came from a resident . Hypothesis still to be confirmed, in a community that numbered around 330 souls and where everyone knows each other.
Seven other people have been taken out of the rubble and are fighting between life and death, others may still be buried by the remains of what were meeting places which now no longer exist.
“A deliberate, demonstrative and brutal terrorist attack,” thunders Zelensky. «Terrorists will face retaliation. A just and powerful retaliation" is the Ukrainian president's promise of revenge.
Condemnations from the White House and the UN, while the Kharkiv region announced three days of mourning "for the bloodiest crime by the Russians in the area since the beginning of the invasion".
Mykhailo Podolyak , advisor to the Ukrainian president, wanted to post uncensored images of the brutality of Groza's deaths, "a reminder to all those who are willing to smile and shake hands with the war criminal Putin at international conferences" , but also a 'note for those who "post memes and make fun of Ukrainians".
Meanwhile, in the very early hours of the morning, a missile hit the center of Kharkiv: rescuers found the lifeless body of a child under the rubble of the building .
(Unioneonline/L)