ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Dozens of civilians had been killed or wounded in what Kyiv mentioned was a cynical Russian missile strike on a convoy of civilian vehicles in southern Ukraine on Friday, leaving our bodies strewn throughout the bottom.
The convoy had been assembling at a automobile market on the sting of town of Zaporizhzhia, getting ready to depart Ukrainian territory managed by Kyiv to go to kin and ship provides in an space occupied by Russia, officers mentioned.
Car home windows had been blown out by the affect of the missile strike, and their sides had been sprayed by shrapnel, a Reuters witness mentioned.
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One physique was leaning from the driving force’s seat into the passenger seat of a yellow automobile, the left hand nonetheless clutching the steering wheel.
“The enemy is raging and seeking revenge for our steadfastness and his failures. He cynically destroys peaceful Ukrainians because he lost everything human long ago,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Bloodthirsty scum! You will definitely answer. For every lost Ukrainian life!”
Oleksandr Starukh, the Zaporizhzhia area governor, put the preliminary toll at 23 killed and 28 wounded in the assault, carried out hours earlier than President Vladimir Putin was attributable to proclaim Russian rule over Zaporizhzhia and three different provinces the place Moscow has seized territory since invading Ukraine.
Andriy Yermak, head of Zelenskiy’s workplace, later mentioned 25 had been killed and 50 wounded in what he mentioned was an assault by a “terrorist state”.
Russia denies intentionally focusing on civilians. Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-installed administration in the Zaporizhzhia area, blamed the assault on Ukrainian forces.
Police Colonel Sergey Ujryumov, head of the explosive disposal unit of the Zaporizhzhia police division, mentioned the automobile market had been hit by three S300 missiles.
Cars destroyed by a Russian missile strike, that hit a convoy of civilian autos amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, are seen in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine September 30, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer
Ujryumov informed Reuters that the Russian army “know that columns are formed here to go to the occupied territories. They had the coordinates.”
“It’s not a coincidental strike. It’s perfectly deliberate,” he mentioned.
CORPSES ON THE GROUND
The autos had been full of the occupants’ belongings, blankets and suitcases. Plastic sheets had been draped over the our bodies of a girl and younger man in a inexperienced automobile. A useless cat lay subsequent to the younger man in the rear seat.
Two our bodies lay in a white mini-van in entrance of one other automobile, its home windows blown out and the edges pitted with shrapnel.
The corpse of an aged lady lay close by, her buying bag subsequent to her.
Another lady, who gave her identify as Nataliya, mentioned she and her husband had been visiting their kids in Zaporizhzhia.
“We were returning to my mother who is 90 years old. We have been spared. It’s a miracle,” she mentioned, standing together with her husband beside their automobile.
Nikola Rusak, a 62-year-old supply driver from the southern province of Kherson, survived the assault unscathed as he slept in his minivan, parked about 20 metres (yards) from a row of car elements retailers that had been hit by a missile.
“I could not understand what was happening,” he mentioned. “I got out and saw people running. I was in a daze. I was just standing there frozen. I didn’t know what to do,” he mentioned.
Rusak mentioned he had been sleeping in the car for 5 days after dropping kin in Zaporizhizia, ready for a telephone name telling him to hitch the convoy for the journey residence to look after his aged mom.
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Reporting by Jonathan Landay
Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic
Editing by Timothy Heritage, William Maclean and Frances Kerry
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
