KYIV (Reuters) – The death toll from a Russian missile strike on the village of Hroza in northeastern Ukraine rose to 52 on Friday after another victim died overnight in hospital, the regional governor said.
A missile slammed into a cafe and grocery store in the village on Thursday as people gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier.
“Fifty-two people died as a result of this missile attack. One person died in a medical facility,” Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, told Ukrainian television. “People are still there (in hospitals). The injuries are quite serious.”
Synehubov said rescuers were still working at the scene of the attack.
Three days of mourning was announced in the Kharkiv region after the deadliest attack in the region since Russia’s invasion more than 19 months ago. It was also one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike.
Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but many have been killed in attacks that have hit residential areas as well as energy, defence, port, grain and other facilities.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
