51 killed in Russia rocket attack on cafe and store, says Ukraine
A Russian rocket has hit a village cafe and store in eastern Ukraine and killed at least 51 civilians in one of the deadliest attacks in months, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The attack came as he attended a summit of about 50 European leaders in Spain to drum up support from Ukraine’s allies.
Presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak and Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said a six-year-old boy was among the dead, and seven other people were wounded. Emergency crews were searching the rubble of damaged buildings.
About 60 people were in the cafe attending a wake after a funeral, said internal affairs minister Ihor Klymenko.
According to preliminary information from Kyiv, the village was struck by an Iskander missile.
Ukrainian prosecutors released pictures showing bloodied bodies and emergency workers combing through smouldering debris.
On Thursday, he was at a summit of the European Political Community in Granada, Spain, where he asked for more western support, saying: “Russian terror must be stopped.”
“Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for only one thing: to make its genocidal aggression the new norm for the whole world,” he said.
“Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defence, strengthening our soldiers, giving our country protection from terror. And we will respond to the terrorists.
“The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defence, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners.”
Last winter, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy system and other vital infrastructure in a steady barrage of missile and drone attacks, triggering continuous power outages across the country.
Mr Zelensky noted the Granada summit will also focus on “joint work for global food security and protection of freedom of navigation” in the Black Sea, where the Russian military has targeted Ukrainian ports after Moscow’s withdrawal from a UN-sponsored grain deal designed to ensure safe grain exports from the invaded country’s ports.
The UK Foreign Office cited intelligence suggesting that Russia may lay sea mines in the approach to Ukrainian ports to target civilian shipping and blame it on Ukraine.
“Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea,” it said, adding that the UK was working with Ukraine to help improve the safety of shipping.
Speaking in Granada, Mr Zelensky emphasised the need to preserve European unity in the face of Russian disinformation and to remain strong amid what a “political storm” in the US.
Asked if he was worried that support for Ukraine could falter in US Congress, the Ukrainian president stressed that his visit to Washington last month made him confident of strong backing by the Biden administration and Congress.