This is how Russia attacks Ukrainian civilians

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is becoming increasingly bloody. Civilian targets are now increasingly under fire.

The most important things at a glance

In the war against Ukraine, Russia appears to be increasingly targeting facilities occupied by civilians. In eastern Ukraine in particular, Putin’s troops recently attacked numerous residential buildings, hotels and restaurants.

Children and those in need of help in particular often have no chance of saving themselves in time. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 9,369 Ukrainian civilians were killed by the Russian war of aggression alone by the end of July, including at least 541 children – at least 16,646 civilians were injured.

Not all attacks can be reconstructed down to the last detail. The worst, which experts describe as clear war crimes, is summarized by t-online here.

Pizzeria under attack

This attack was particularly perfidious because there were many children on site. An attack on a pizzeria in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on June 27, 2023 killed many civilians, including two 14-year-old schoolgirls.

The restaurant was in a residential area near two schools, so it was very popular with young people. Journalists and writers also frequented the restaurant. The visit also ended fatally for the famous Ukrainian author Victoria Amelina, who recently documented Russian war crimes.

20 dead when rockets hit mall

Exactly one year before the rockets fired on the restaurant, on June 27, 2022, the Russian army struck elsewhere: in a devastating attack on a shopping center in central Ukraine’s Kremenchuk.

There, rockets killed 20 people and wounded 59 others. Russia responded to the allegations of the attack with contradictory statements, but vehemently denied having targeted the mall.

Refugees killed at the train station

This cruel attack also triggered great outrage: In April 2022, a Russian attack on the Kramatorsk train station killed 61 people, including seven children, who had previously been evacuated from the city and wanted to flee.

For them, rescue from the war zone was within their grasp: hundreds of civilians were just waiting for the trains bound for the safe west when two rockets landed in the middle of the station. The pictures of the many corpses lying covered with sheets on the entire station premises went around the world.

Russia denied responsibility for the attack. The type of rocket used – Totschka-U – is not owned at all. A day before the attack, however, investigative reporters reported that the Russian troops stationed in Belarus had received several Totschka-U, as the “Tagesschau” reported.

Targeting international journalists

In the past few weeks, journalists have apparently also been the focus of the Russian army – but at least it seems as if they are willing to accept their death: in two attacks within one hour on a residential area in Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, rockets hit the hotel. Druzhba” a. Foreign journalists are often housed there.

Residential houses, restaurants, shops and administrative buildings were also damaged. Referred to as a “double strike” in military jargon, this tactic is already familiar from Syria and is driving up the death toll.