'Absolute atrocity' — Russian drone strike on park in Kharkiv Oblast kills children and infant
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Six people, including three children, were killed in a Russian drone strike on a park in the city of Nova Vodolaha in Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 19, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
The drone struck the town's central park while many people, including families with children, were there, Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. An infant in a stroller and two women were among those killed, he added. He also pointed out that the attack made no militarey sense.
The governor initially said that at least 15 other people were injured, including seven children. He later raised the number of people killed to six, including three children.
The attack occurred at around 4:30 p.m. local time, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office said. According to preliminary findings, Russian forces used a Geran-3 drone for the attack.
"This cannot be treated as just another news story. The world must not get used to the killing of Ukrainian children and civilians," Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack an "absolute atrocity."
He said a girl called Angelina, a little over a year old, was killed in the park, and her mother Inna passed away in the hospital. He also identified another victim of the attack as a 14-year-old girl.
"These are horrific photos, but behind them lie shattered lives and the truth about this war. We must protect lives. Ukraine needs air defense," Zelensky said. "We ask that sanctions against Russia NOT be lifted until the killings stop."
Prosecutors have opened a pre-trial investigation into a possible war crime.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russia attacked the city of Kharkiv and 17 settlements in the surrounding region, injuring 11 people, over the past day, Syniehubov said.
