On the evening of 27 June 2023, at around 7:30 p.m., Russia launched two

Iskander The 9K720 Iskander (; NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone) is a Russian mobile short-range ballistic missile system. It has a range of . It was intended to replace the OTR-21 Tochka in the Russian military by 2020. The Iskander has several differ ...

ballistic Ballistics may refer to: Science * Ballistics, the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles ** Forensic ballistics, the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes ** Internal ballistics, the study of the proce ...

missile strike A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this us ...

s against civilian buildings in

Kramatorsk Kramatorsk (, ; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Kramatorsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Prior to 2020, Kramatorsk was a city of oblast significance. Since October 2014, Kramatorsk has been the ...

, Ukraine, during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. The main target was a pizza restaurant which housed up to 80 customers and staff at that time. Thirteen people were killed, including Ukrainian novelist

Victoria Amelina Viktoriia Amelina (; ; 1 January 1986 – 1 July 2023), was a Ukrainian novelist and war crimes researcher. She was the author of two novels and a children's book, a winner of the Joseph Conrad Literary Award and a European Union Prize for Lit ...

, a 17-year-old girl, a pair of 14-year old twin sisters and Ian Tortorici, a US Marine Corps veteran, while 61 were injured in the explosions. Another missile hit a village on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, injuring five more people. The restaurant was popular among locals, soldiers,

foreign correspondents A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

and

aid workers Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian a ...

. Among the injured were Colombian novelist and journalist

Héctor Abad Faciolince Héctor Abad Faciolince (born 1958) is a Colombian novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. Abad is considered one of the most talented post-Latin American Boom writers in Latin American literature. Abad is best known for his bestselling nov ...

and his friend Sergio Jaramillo Caro. Kramatorsk was 24 kilometers from the battle front at the time.

Responses

The attack occurred shortly after the conclusion of the

Wagner Group rebellion On 23 June 2023, the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, staged an uprising against the Russia under Vladimir Putin, Russian government. It marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian Ministry of Defence conflict, Wagner Grou ...

in Russia, which threatened the authority of President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Spani ...

and Ukraine's President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

condemned the attack as "Russian terror against Ukrainian civilians". The Ukrainian army later arrested a man suspected of having spied on the vehicles parked outside the restaurant and forwarding the video to the Russian military intelligence. US President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

condemned the attack and said that Putin became a " pariah around the world". Denise Brown, UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, issued a statement describing the attack as "another example of heinexcusable level of suffering Russia’s invasion is inflicting on the people of Ukraine. International humanitarian law protects civilians and civilian infrastructure, and everything must be done to minimize or avoid civilian harm, including by verifying targets".

PEN Ukraine PEN Ukraine is a Ukrainian non-governmental organization established to protect freedom of speech and authors' rights, promote literature and international cultural cooperation. It is part of the network of national centers of the International P ...

and Truth Hounds referred to the strike as a

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

, with the latter being the organization Ukrainian writer and victim of the strike

was a war crimes documentarian for. PEN Ukraine stated that "They clearly knew that they were shelling a place with many civilians inside".

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

international affairs editor

Dominic Waghorn Dominic David Waghorn (born 1968, Lambeth), is a British journalist who is the International Affairs Editor of Sky News and formerly presenter of the channel's weekly international affairs analysis programme ''World View''. He was before that ...

stated that, since a high-precision missile was used to carry out the strike, "they probably knew exactly what they were firing at", and that "this is an alleged war crime".

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

Catherine Colonna Catherine Colonna (; born 16 April 1956) is a French diplomat and politician who served as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne from May 2022 to January 2024. Colonna previously served as ...

condemned the strike and called it a war crime, and so did

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

Victims

Pizzeria employees: # Andriichuk Kateryna Andriivna, born (18 years old; cook) # Bashkeeva Zoryana Valeriivna, born (24 years old; waitress) # Yevgenia Oleksandrivna Golovchenko, born (; dryer) # Mykyta Valentynovich Dolgopol, born (; senior cook) # Zakharov Roman Ruslanovich (20 years old, waiter) # Valeriya Ruslanivna Simonnik, born (; dryer) # Titoruk Artur Volodymyrovych, born (28 years old; administrator) Pizzeria visitors: # Twin sisters Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko, born (; schoolchildren) # Amelina Viktoriya Yuriivna, born (;

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

) # Orlovsky Artur (30 years old, entrepreneur) # Artem Olegovich Suhoviy (22 years old,

combat medic A combat medic is responsible for providing emergency medicine, emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury or illnes ...

1 ShB 3 OShBr) # Ian Tortorici, call sign "Frank" (23 years old, volunteer

International Legion The International Legion was created in Italy by Giuseppe Garibaldi, on October 5, 1860 – in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Volturno, where the forces of the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were decisively broken. It had b ...

, former

US Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

)

Gallery

File:Kramatorsk after Russian missile strike, 2023-06-27 (01-01).jpg File:Kramatorsk after Russian missile strike, 2023-06-27 (01-03).jpg File:Kramatorsk after Russian missile strike, 2023-06-27 (01-05).jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramatorsk June 2023 in Ukraine Russian airstrikes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine Building bombings in Ukraine 2023 building bombings War crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian war crimes in Ukraine Kramatorsk Restaurant bombings in Europe Donetsk Oblast in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Military operations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2023

Responses

Victims

Gallery

See also

References