MOSCOW: Russia said on Thursday that a Ukrainian drone strike on a café and hotel in the Kherson region killed at least 24 people and injured more than 50 others who were celebrating the New Year, an allegation Kyiv has not commented on.
The attack reportedly took place around midnight in the village of Khorly on the Black Sea coast.
Vladimir Saldo, the governor of the Kherson region, said three drones struck the café and hotel almost simultaneously, triggering a fire.
“Late tonight, the opponent carried out a deliberate drone strike on a place where civilians were celebrating the New Year,” Saldo said on Telegram.
He said preliminary data indicated that 24 people were killed and more than 50 injured, adding that doctors were fighting to save the wounded. The figures were still being verified.
Images posted by Saldo on social media showed a building gutted by fire, piles of smouldering rubble and charred bodies.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal probe into the incident, describing it as an attack that had killed more than 24 people and wounded many others.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist” attack against civilians.
Russian Security Council Secretary Dmitry Medvedev also reacted sharply, saying Ukraine would face “inevitable retaliation”.
Speaking to state news agency TASS, Medvedev said the strike targeted civilians and used highly inflammatory language to describe Ukraine’s forces, warning that revenge would be “merciless”.
Saldo declared January 2 and 3 days of mourning in the Kherson region. He also alleged that British intelligence services may have been involved, saying it was otherwise difficult to explain Kyiv’s “confidence in impunity”. He provided no evidence to support the claim.
Ukraine has not commented on the accusations.
Kyiv says Russia escalated attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia carried the war “into the New Year” by launching more than 200 drones overnight, mainly targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine’s power operator Ukrenergo said a “significant number of consumers” were cut off from electricity. Railway and port infrastructure was also damaged, according to Ukrainian officials.
Zelensky’s comments came amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-year war. He said earlier that Ukraine was “10 percent” away from a peace deal.
US President Donald Trump has held talks with both Moscow and Kyiv last week in an attempt to broker an end to the conflict.
Kyiv has accused Russia of deliberately sabotaging diplomatic efforts in order to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Earlier this week, Moscow accused Ukraine of attempting a drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences.
Kyiv dismissed the claim, saying there was no “plausible” evidence. Ukraine’s allies also expressed scepticism.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday it would provide the United States with “decrypted data” from the drone allegedly involved in that incident.
