President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly denounced the "egregiously violent Russian crime," describing it as "a rocket assault on a regular grocery store."
President Zelenskyy, while joining European officials in Spain to seek additional support for Ukraine, referred to the recent incident as a "terrorist attack" and assured a robust and decisive response. He conveyed this message through his Telegram channel.
According to Ukraine's Internal Affairs Minister, Ihor Klymenko, the death toll in the collapsed building has been confirmed at 51. He stated that the building had approximately 60 people inside at the time it was hit by a Russian rocket or missile.
Images shared online by Zelenskyy's office depicted emergency workers carefully inspecting a massive heap of crushed concrete and twisted metal at the scene. Additionally, some of the images captured the bodies of the victims, which had been carefully removed from the debris and were now resting on the ground.
I offer my heartfelt condolences to all those who have experienced the loss of their loved ones. Zelenskyy stated on his Telegram account that assistance is being provided to the wounded individuals. The threat of Russian terror needs to be addressed and stopped. Anyone who assists Russia in evading sanctions is engaging in criminal activity.
According to Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, the building that was hit was a café and shop located in the village of Hroza, in Kharkiv's Kupyansk district. The incident occurred at approximately 1:15 p.m. local time, during a busy period for the business. Among the deceased in the village, which had a population of approximately 500 people prior to the war, was a 6-year-old boy. Over the past year, numerous individuals have escaped from the region devastated by war.
Zelenskyy made a commitment that Ukraine would take action in response to the terrorists. That is completely fair and incredibly powerful.