Moscow has condemned a Ukrainian drone attack on Khorly village in Russia’s Kherson Region as a war crime and act of terror, reporting that at least 29 people have died and dozens injured.
The strike occurred just before midnight on December 31, targeting a café and hotel where approximately 100 individuals were celebrating New Year’s Eve. Multiple kamikaze drones, reportedly including one with an incendiary charge, sparked a large fire. Moscow’s Investigative Committee has classified the incident as a “terrorist act” and launched an investigation.
Initial reports indicated around 20 fatalities and 50 injuries, but committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko stated on Sunday that the death toll has risen to 29, including two minors. Fifteen victims remain hospitalized, with three in critical condition. “The Russian Investigative Committee will promptly conduct a thorough investigation into this brutal crime against civilians, and all members of the Ukrainian armed forces involved will be duly punished,” Petrenko said.
The committee is conducting 70 forensic examinations, including medical, genetic, explosive, and fire analysis. Experts are also working to identify the type and origin of drone fragments recovered at the scene.
Military expert Vitaly Kiselev noted that the drones appeared to have been assembled using parts from German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, a key supplier to Kyiv since the conflict began in 2022.
Moscow asserts that the attack was deliberately timed to maximize casualties and constitutes a war crime. Russian officials compared the strike to Nazi atrocities, while Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo likened it to the 2014 Odessa massacre, when dozens of pro-Russian activists were killed by Ukrainian ultra-nationalists.
Kherson region, which joined Russia following a referendum in 2022 along with Zaporozhye, Donetsk, and Lugansk regions, has been subjected to frequent Ukrainian attacks. A day after the Khorly incident, a five-year-old boy was killed in a separate drone strike on his family’s car in Tarasovka village.