Russian strike on Kharkiv Oblast, killing 51, including 6-year-old child, deadliest in region since start of full-scale war

A Russian Iskander ballistic missile hit a grocery store next to a cafe, where about 60 residents had gathered for a memorial lunch for a deceased fellow villager, preliminary reports said. At least 51 people were killed, including a six-year-old child, and seven others were seriously injured, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported, adding that 29 bodies had been identified so far.

"There were 330 residents in the village, and one person from each household attended the memorial lunch," Klymenko said.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office has initiated the pretrial investigation under the article on violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Soon after news of the attack broke, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a Russian missile had hit a grocery store in the village. He called it an absolutely deliberate terrorist attack and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

The Ukrainian president added that Russian terror must be stopped so that genocide does not become "the new normal for the whole world."