“As a result of a drone attack on a restaurant and hotel in the village of Khorly in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region, 27 people died, including two minors, and another 31 people, including five children, were taken to hospitals; the Ukrainian side denies its involvement in the strike”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to the agency, two minors were among the dead. 31 wounded, including five children, were sent to hospitals in the Kherson region and occupied Crimea with various injuries.
The Russian-controlled administration of the region published the first lists of the dead, among them the journalists of the Kherson newspaper “Most” found Russians and local residents who cooperated with the occupation authorities.
Most also wrote that the restaurant “Ukrainian Khata” and the hotel “Leo” were hit. Footage from the scene of the fire was published by a member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Rogozin, and a pro-war blogger, Oleksandr Sheptura. He claims that Russian soldiers were allegedly killed while extinguishing the fire.
In total, at least 100 people were in the building on the night of January 1, the Investigative Committee noted. The agency added that investigators recovered fragments of several drones. As Volodymyr Saldo, the head of the administration of the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast, reported, three drones took part in the attack, one of which was carrying an incendiary mixture.
On January 1, Saldo reported on the situation to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The representative of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Dmytro Lykhovii, rejected the involvement of the Ukrainian military in the attack. “The defense forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at military targets of the enemy, facilities of the fuel and energy complex of the Russian Federation and other legitimate targets in order to reduce the military potential of the aggressor country,” he said.