HENICHESK/MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – According to the occupation administration, more than 24 people are said to have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Russian-controlled part of the Kherson region. A café in the village of Khorly on the Black Sea was hit by three drones while celebrating New Year’s Eve there, head of administration Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram. He initially spoke of 24 deaths in the morning, but later said that the number was higher.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spoke of a terrorist attack in which 50 people were injured. Also Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin was informed by Saldo, as the President’s Office announced.
The Ukrainian General Staff dismissed the account as false and typical Russian disinformation. The Russians’ aim is to use such false claims to influence Ukraine’s partners and the course of the peace negotiations.
Ukraine rejects allegations
“The Defense Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and carry out attacks exclusively on military targets of the enemy, objects of the fuel and energy complex of the Russian Federation and other legitimate targets with the aim of reducing the military potential of the aggressor country,” the spokesman for the General Staff said, according to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
There were no independent reports or confirmation of the high number of deaths. Photos and videos on social networks suggest that a restaurant in the small holiday resort on a peninsula burned out. “A child was killed,” wrote Saldo, who also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desire for peace because of the incident.
Outrage in Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church and members of parliament also reacted with outrage. The Russian judiciary opened a case for terrorism, as the state news agency Tass reported. In an interview with Tass, the deputy head of the National Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, announced a retaliatory strike against the organizers of the attack. The pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova commented that similar attacks have occurred before when occupying soldiers gather for holidays.
The Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine is divided along the Dnipro River. The northern part with the regional capital Kherson is under Ukrainian control. The southern part with the coast is occupied by Russian troops./fko/DP/zb