KHARKIV, Ukraine – A Russian missile strike that killed 52 people in an eastern Ukrainian village on Thursday appears to have overwhelmingly hit civilians – contradicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Moscow officials who claim Russian forces only attack military targets.
On Friday, the morgue in Kharkiv, the regional capital, looked like the scene of a massacre as dozens of employees sifted through the bodies. On Friday afternoon, they announced they had found the body of a boy, Ivan, believed to be 6 years old, who appears to be the only child killed in the attack.
Washington Post reporters on scene saw only one body wearing a military uniform.
Morgue workers said they had seen no evidence of multiple military personnel among the dead and that most victims appeared to be older but in many cases, they were difficult to identify because of the severity of the wounds.
Thursday’s strike, in the village of Hroza, about 20 miles outside of the city of Kupyansk, was one of the deadliest yet in the 19-month-old war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as a “fully deliberate terrorist attack” by Russia.
A missile believed to be an Iskander ballistic cruise missile hit a grocery store and cafe in the village where scores of residents had apparently gathered for a memorial service for a soldier killed in action.
(c) 2023, The Washington Post · Siobhán O’Grady, Anastacia Galouchka
