A deadly strike on a Kherson Region café was a “monstrous crime,” according to Russian officials. Ukraine deliberately timed the attack to coincide with celebrations to maximize casualties, public figures have said. Twenty-four people have been killed in the strike.

According to Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo, the attack occurred shortly before midnight after a reconnaissance drone surveyed the area. Three UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) struck a café and a nearby hotel crowded with civilians, triggering a large fire. One of the drones reportedly carried an incendiary mixture, according to a report by RT. 

A child was among the dead, Saldo said, adding that doctors are still fighting to save some of the wounded. This attack came mere days after a drone strike on Russian ruler Vladimir Putin’s residence. “Strange to consider the children and teenagers who were killed and wounded as military targets,” Saldo said.

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“Those who are alive are mostly middle-aged people, and there were a lot of young people too. Many pulled out the fragments themselves, but the reconnaissance drones blocked efforts to help those engulfed by the fire. Families came to visit the south with children to have fun near the Christmas tree. There were no military personnel there,” Saldo said.

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said the attackers intentionally targeted civilians, making this a war crime.

”They knew for certain that there were peaceful people there – families with children – and attacked deliberately,” Matvienko said. “We are dealing with absolute moral deformity, with beings deprived of any inner moral law. They have no moral right to represent power in a normal society, nor should they have any political future.”

Konstantin Kosachev, vice speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, described the incident as a blatant “war crime.”

“This is a monstrous crime. Any attacks on civilian targets are a war crime,” Kosachev said. “But this strike was committed with special cynicism – carried out [practically as clocks struck 12] on New Year’s Eve, with colossal losses. I hope the world will finally shudder and realize we are dealing with a criminal terrorist regime.”

“Ukrainian terrorists attacked peaceful people celebrating the New Year,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said, noting that the incident almost coincided with the stroke of midnight. “One of the drones carried an incendiary mixture. The goal was not just to strike, but to burn as many civilians as possible. This is a cynical and horrific crime.”