ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—At least 30 civilians were killed and almost 100 wounded in what Kyiv said was a cynical Russian missile strike on a convoy of civilian cars in southern Ukraine on Friday.
The convoy had been assembling at a car market on the edge of the city of Zaporizhzhia, preparing to leave Ukrainian territory controlled by Ukraine to visit relatives and deliver supplies in an area occupied by Russia, officials said.
“The enemy started this day with a deliberate and absolutely calculated murder of Ukrainians ... the Russian military knew where their missiles would hit,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address, giving the latest casualty figures.
“This was done by non-humans ... they will answer before the law without fail.”
Car windows were blown out by the impact of the missile strike, and their sides were sprayed by shrapnel, a Reuters witness said.
The attack was carried out hours before President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russian rule over Zaporizhzhia and three other provinces where Moscow has seized territory.
Authorities later held a concert on Moscow’s central Red Square to mark the occasion.
“They sang in the square, they were talking about Zaporizhzhia, when they themselves did this in Zaporizhzhia. They are non-humans,” said Zelenskyy.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-installed administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, blamed the attack on Ukrainian forces.
