Russian Missile Attack Claims Lives in Eastern Ukraine’s Pizza Restaurant

At least nine people, including three children, lost their lives when a Russian missile struck a crowded pizza restaurant in an eastern Ukrainian city, according to authorities. Rescue teams are diligently searching through the wreckage of the devastated building in their efforts.

On Tuesday evening, the missile attack in Kramatorsk resulted in injuries to 56 individuals, as reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. This relentless bombardment, a tactic frequently employed by Russia throughout the ongoing 16-month-long war, continues to wreak havoc.

Tragically, two 14-year-old sisters were among the victims of this attack, as confirmed by the educational department of the Kramatorsk city council. In a heart-wrenching Telegram post, they expressed, “Russian missiles silenced the hearts of these two angels.”

In addition, Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin stated that the other deceased child was 17 years old.

The assault, carried out with S-300 missiles, caused substantial damage to 18 multi-story buildings, 65 houses, five schools, two kindergartens, a shopping center, an administrative building, and a recreational facility, revealed Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor. The S-300 missiles are designed for surface-to-air purposes and are not known for their accuracy against ground targets. However, Russia has repurposed them for imprecise strikes on urban areas.

Kramatorsk, a city on the front line housing the Ukrainian army’s regional headquarters, often welcomed journalists, aid workers, soldiers, and local residents to the now-devastated pizza restaurant.

The city of Donetsk, where the incident occurred, is located within one of the four Ukrainian provinces that Russia claimed to annex in September of the previous year but does not have full control over. Additionally, Russia has occupied Crimea since 2015.

Areas within the partially occupied provinces, held by Ukraine, have borne the brunt of Russian bombardment and serve as a significant obstacle to resolving the war.

The Kremlin insists that Kyiv recognizes the annexations, while Kyiv has refused to engage in any negotiations with Russia until its troops withdraw from all occupied territories. Recently, Kyiv initiated a highly anticipated counteroffensive in an attempt to reclaim the occupied regions.

Meanwhile, Russia has escalated its aerial campaign in Ukraine, with the fighting persisting along the front line.

According to the Ukrainian presidential office, Russian forces also bombarded 16 settlements in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday and overnight. A 77-year-old civilian lost their life in the front-line town of Orikhiv, and three individuals in a nearby village, recently retaken by Kyiv, sustained injuries due to Russian shelling.

Furthermore, the presidential office reported that a Russian supersonic cruise missile struck a cluster of vacation homes in central Ukraine, causing a fire and injuring a child.

This report includes contributions from Big Big News Writer Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia.

For the latest updates on the war, please visit: https://bigbignews.net/russia-ukraine

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More about Ukraine-Russia conflict

• Russian missile hits crowded pizza restaurant in Ukraine, killing 9
• Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Background and Updates
• Ukraine Ministry of Internal Affairs
• Kramatorsk City Council
• Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office
• Regional Governor’s Statement on the Attack
• Overview of the S-300 Missile System
• Updates on Ukraine-Russia Conflict by Big Big News