Funerals began today for victims of a deadly Russian missile strike on the village of Hroza in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.
On October 5th, a Russian missile hit a cafe in Hroza where local residents had gathered for a memorial service, killing at least 52 people, including one child, according to local authorities.
Andrii Kanashevych, head of the Kupiansk district military administration, reported on Facebook that the first burials for victims took place today in Hroza. A married couple who were killed in the attack were laid to rest, with their daughter returning from abroad to attend the funeral.
The missile strike on Hroza was one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Everyone in the small village of around 300 people has been affected.
Among those killed was a Ukrainian soldier, Denys Kozyr, who was attending his father’s funeral at the cafe. Denys and his father Andriy, who was wounded in battle earlier this year, had both joined Ukraine’s armed forces after Russia’s invasion began.