At least 49 killed in Russian artillery strike near Kupiansk, Ukrainian authorities say

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - KYIV — At least 49 people have been killed in a Russian artillery strike that hit a grocery store near Kupiansk Thursday, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's office said.

Shortly after 1 p.m. local time, Russian forces shelled a cafe and shop in the village of Hroza in the Kupiansk district, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.

"Rescuers continue to work at the site. As of now, the bodies of 48 dead people, including a 6-year-old boy, have been removed from the rubble," he added. "6 people, including 1 child, were injured. Doctors are providing them with the necessary assistance. Rescue operations at the site are ongoing."

The strike appears to be the deadliest against Ukraine's civilian population since an attack on Kramatorsk railway station early in 2022. It's unclear what weapon was used. Ukrainian officials have used different terms to describe the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is on a visit to Spain, called the attack "a demonstrably brutal Russian crime — a rocket attack on an ordinary grocery store, a completely deliberate terrorist attack."

"Russian terror must be stopped. Anyone who helps Russia circumvent sanctions is a criminal. Everyone who still supports Russia is supporting evil. Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for one thing only: to make its genocidal aggression the new normal for the whole world," Zelensky said.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that residents of the small village of about 330 people had been holding a memorial service in the cafe that was hit.

“From every family, from every household, there were people present at this commemoration. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

Seven people were also in hospital after the attack, which appeared to be the most devastating Russian strike on a residential area in weeks.

It comes as President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated his position that Russia did not start the war in Ukraine but launched what it calls a “special military operation” to try to stop it.

In his yearly speech to the Valdai Discussion Club, being held in Sochi, Putin said Russia, the world’s largest country by area, had no need to take territory from Ukraine.

He said the conflict was not therefore imperial or territorial but about the global order, and that the West, which had lost its hegemonic power and always needed an enemy, had lost touch with reality. — Agencies