Russian Missiles Hit Historic City In Central Ukraine, Killing 23 Civilians

Russian missiles struck the historic town of Vinnytsya in central Ukraine on July 14 in another air strike that left scores of civilians dead and injured.

Ukrainian authorities said at least 23 people, including three children, were killed in the midday attack on a city hundreds of kilometers from the front line, which came as EU officials convened in The Hague to discuss war crimes in Ukraine.

State Emergency Services said at least 52 people were injured. The city council in Vinnytsya said many of them were in serious or critical condition. At least 39 people remain unaccounted for.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said three children were among those killed and tweeted what he said was a photo of the body of one of the children. Most of the image of the body, pictured lying near a stroller, was obscured.

“This is terrorism,” Kuleba said. “Deliberate murder of civilians to spread fear. Russia is a terrorist state and must be legally recognized as such.”

Several buildings in the city center were damaged, according to rescuers, and 25 cars in a parking lot caught fire.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the attack “an open act of terrorism.”

“Every day, Russia kills civilians, kills Ukrainian children, carries out missile attacks on the civilian facilities where there is no military target. What is this, if not an open act of terrorism?” Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

In an address later to EU officials at The Hague, Zelenskiy said there were eight rockets, two of which hit the center of the city. He led a moment of silence before urging European and International Criminal Court officials to open a special tribunal into Russia’s invasion.

“I believe it is inevitable that the International Criminal Court will bring accountability to those guilty of crimes under its jurisdiction: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide.” /RFE/RL/