At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on a town in occupied southern Ukraine, Kremlin-installed authorities said Thursday, accusing Kyiv of deliberately targeting civilians during New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed governor of the occupied Kherson region, said drones struck a hotel and restaurant in the Black Sea resort town of Khorly overnight, sparking a fire as people were gathered to celebrate. He said a child was among those killed.
Saldo, who later briefed President Vladimir Putin about the deadly incident, published photos of the scene of the attack, where multiple bodies could be seen buried beneath the rubble of a burned-down building.
The Moscow Times was able to geolocate the images to a restaurant in Khorly called Cafe Ukrayinska Khata, located right beside Hotel Leo, which appears to not have been in operation since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal probe into the drone attack, which it said it would treat as an act of terrorism.
The Ukrainian military later denied targeting civilians in Khorly, saying its forces “adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike only at enemy military targets.”
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