Death toll from Russian attack on park in Kharkiv Oblast on Oct. 19 rises to 6 after child dies in hospital
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A 12-year-old boy injured in a Russian drone strike on a park in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 19 has died in a Kyiv hospital, bringing the death toll to six, including three children, local authorities reported on Oct. 26.
Russian forces struck the town's central park at around 4:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 19, when families with children were spending time there.
Artem Koval suffered severe injuries in the drone strike and was taken to hospital. Despite a week of efforts to save him, doctors were unable to overcome his life-threatening injuries, the Vodolaha Village Council said.
Artem's 8-year-old sister, Arina, was killed at the scene of the attack on the park.
"In a single terrible moment, the parents lost everything most precious to them — both their son and their daughter — and their loved ones lost children who were so dear to their hearts," the statement read.
"Russia robbed these children of their future and their families of their reason for living by committing yet another bloody crime against the most innocent."
At least 15 people were injured in the attack, including seven children, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack an "absolute atrocity."
Zelensky said a girl called Anhelina, a little over a year old, was killed in the park, and her mother, Inna, passed away in hospital. The president also identified another victim of the attack as a 14-year-old girl.
Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation into a war crime.
