On Thursday, October 5, Ukrainian officials said that scores of people had died as a result of a Russian attack on a grocery shop and cafe in Kharkiv’s eastern region. According to the general prosecutor of Ukraine, at least 49 people died.
According to Oleg Sinegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv area, the strike impacted the village of Groza at about 1:15 p.m. He said that a 6-year-old boy was among the fatalities and that “rescuers are working on the scene.” He added that one kid had been hurt.
The strike victims had gathered for a wake, according to a Ukrainian official. According to Interfax Ukraine, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, “It was a wake for a fellow villager who passed away.”
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the attack hit the Kupiansk area of the war-torn region bordering Russia, where Moscow’s forces have been attempting to retake ground they lost to Ukrainian forces last year. In a message posted on social media, Zelensky characterized the barbaric Russian act of launching a rocket at a regular grocery shop as a fully intentional terrorist strike.
As rescuers worked nearby, Zelensky tweeted a picture of a woman kneeling over the body of someone who was ostensibly killed in the attack, with more corpses scattered all around her.
The village, which is 30 kilometers west of the frontline city of Kupiansk, is thought to have been home to 500 people before the war.