Three Colombian citizens were present and were slightly injured when a Russian missile hit the area of a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday this week.
In an interview with a Colombian radio station, carried by Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, Russia has now apologized for the incident.
– We are very sorry that the Colombian nationals ended up in this place at that particular time. But I draw attention to the fact that the attacks are carried out on targets that are somehow connected with the military infrastructure, says Marija Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Expert: – It sounds funny
Teenagers killed
Zakharova claims that the target of the Russian attack, in which at least 12 people were killed — three of them teenagers, including 14-year-old twin sisters Julija and Anna — and more than 60 injured, was a “legitimate” target. Objectives “.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, they had indications that officers from the 56th Ukrainian Motorized Infantry Brigade were in the respective building in Kramatorsk.
However, the Russian missile—possibly a short-range Iskander missile—hit a pizzeria popular with foreign journalists covering the war in Ukraine.
Victims: At least 12 people were killed in Kramatorsk on Tuesday. Three of them were teenagers. Photo: AFP/NTB
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Russia: officers killed
At the same time as the attack on central Kramatorsk, a Russian missile hit a village on the outskirts of the city.
On Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it had killed two generals, up to 50 Ukrainian officers and 20 foreign mercenaries in the missile strikes.
Other sources did not confirm these numbers.
Tobias Sather at the Norwegian Defense Academy (FHS) Staff School told Dagbladet he was skeptical of the Russian allegations.
– He said on Thursday sounds funny.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly condemned the Kramatorsk attack. And in his daily video that same evening, he referred to the Russians as terrorists who would get their punishment.
IED: This is what the restaurant in the center of Kramatorsk looked like after it was hit by a short-range Russian Iskander missile. Photo: AFP/NTB
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He was arrested by the security service
On Wednesday, it emerged that the Security Service of Ukraine and a special police force had arrested a man who, according to Zelensky, was said to have helped coordinate the attack.
The security service stated that the man worked for a gas company, and allegedly photographed the restaurant in Kramatorsk and gave Russia information that he was popular.
Kramatorsk has a population of about 160,000 and is located near the front in eastern Ukraine. The city has suffered several attacks since the all-out Russian invasion in February last year.
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