Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 24 people in New Year drone strike

(Reuters)

MOSCOW, Jan 1 – Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of killing at least 24 people, including a child, in a drone strike on a hotel and cafe where civilians were seeing in the New Year in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

Ukraine’s military, which has accused Russia of killing many civilians in its own attacks on Ukrainian cities, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of the region, first made the accusation about the strike in a statement. Russia’s Foreign Ministry and senior Russian politicians later accused Ukraine of carrying out “a terrorist attack”.

Reuters was not able to immediately verify photographs of what Saldo’s press service said was the aftermath of the attack or the allegation.

At least one dead body was visible in the images beneath a white sheet. The building showed signs that a fierce fire had raged and there were what looked like blood stains on the ground.

Saldo said in his statement that three Ukrainian drones had struck the site of New Year celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a “deliberate strike” against civilians. He said that many people had been burnt alive.