Pro-Russian authorities accused Kiev’s armed forces of firing a rocket on Sunday at a hotel in Kherson, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, killing two, including a former deputy.
“Today, at about 5:30 a.m. local time, the Ukrainian armed forces fired a missile at the Play Hotel by Ribas,” the Russian occupation region said in a statement.
“According to preliminary data, two people have been killed in this terrorist act, and paramedics continue to search for victims under the rubble,” he added.
Kiril Stremusov, an official with the Russian regional administration, said the dead included former Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksi Juravko, a Moscow sympathizer.
According to pro-Russian officials, the hotel also housed journalists from the Russian press at the time of the attack.
Russian state broadcaster RT broadcast images showing one of its photo reporters being pulled from a pile of rubble.
The announcement of this attack comes as pro-Russian officials in four Moscow-controlled areas of Ukraine, including the Kherson region, have been holding “referendums” since Friday to ratify Russia’s annexation of these areas.
These elections, considered “simulacra” by Kiev and its Western allies, will be held on Tuesday.
The city of Kherson came under control of Russian forces at the end of February at the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. It is in an area where Kiev’s armed forces have been conducting a large-scale counter-offensive for several weeks.
Source: DN
