At least 25 people were killed in what Kiev called a “cynical attack” by Moscow with missiles on a convoy of cars on the edge of the southern city of Zaporijia on Friday. Russia denies targeting civilians, and has blamed the onslaught on Ukrainian forces.
Cars clustered near an auto parts market, preparing to head from Ukrainian-held territory to the Russian-conquered area to visit relatives and deliver supplies.
The impact of the missiles caused the vehicles’ windows to shatter and their sides to be sprayed. According to eyewitness accounts, after the attack there were bodies inside the cars and lying on the ground, some of them mutilated.
The offensive came hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of parts of the Zaporyjia region and three other occupied Ukrainian provinces to his country’s territory. After referendums organized on an emergency basis by the occupation authorities, the two self-proclaimed republics of Donbass, in the east, and Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, will still be incorporated.
The numbers of injured vary – while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said there were 50, Melitopol City Hall counts 62.
Zelensky spoke about the episode in a message on Telegram. “Only complete terrorists could do that and they should have no place in the civilized world,” he wrote, before calling Russia a “terrorist state” and “bloodthirsty scum.” “You will definitely answer for every Ukrainian life lost,” he said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would not cease fighting until he regained all of his territory and called an emergency meeting of his government for Friday. He was supported by the US and its allies in NATO (Western military alliance). New sanctions against Russia are being prepared.
Head of an explosives disposal unit for the Zaporyjia police, Colonel Sergei Ujrumov claimed that the automobile market was hit by three S300 missiles. He further said that the Russian army knew convoys were forming there and deliberately planned the attack, which Moscow denies. “They had the coordinates,” he said.
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