KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine on Monday launched a legal investigation into army officers who organized a ceremony to honor troops that was hit by a Russian missile strike, killing 19 troopers in one of many deadliest single assaults reported by Ukrainian forces.
The State Bureau of Investigation mentioned it goals to carry army officers accountable for the Rocket Forces and Artillery Day occasion held Friday close to the entrance line in Zaporizhzhia the place Russian reconnaissance drones might simply spot the crowded gathering.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented that the deaths of the lads of the 128th Separate Mountain-Assault Brigade of Zakarpattia was a “tragedy that might’ve been averted.” The carnage sparked a wave of criticism amongst Ukrainians on social media for planning the occasion so near the battlefield.
The announcement got here as officers mentioned Russian drone and missile strikes in Odesa wounded eight individuals and broken an artwork museum that’s a part of a UNESCO World Heritage website, and satellite tv for pc pictures confirmed harm finished by a Ukrainian missile strike to a Russian naval ship.
Odesa’s Nationwide Artwork Museum mentioned seven exhibitions, most that includes the work of latest Ukrainian artists, had been broken by a strike that left a big crater outdoors the museum celebrating its 124th anniversary.
Photographs and video confirmed shattered home windows, doorways, and a few work mendacity on the ground amid particles strewn throughout the galleries.
The assault adopted experiences by the Russian Protection Ministry that Ukrainian cruise missiles aimed on the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, a metropolis within the east of the Moscow-held Crimean Peninsula, had struck one in every of its vessels.
Satellite tv for pc pictures analyzed by The Related Press confirmed harm to a Russian navy corvette moored off Kerch.
The satellite tv for pc footage Sunday from Planet Labs PBC present what look like a firefighting vessel, in addition to booms within the water to cease oil leaks, from the broken ship. What seemed to be burn marks could be seen on the vessel, which was nonetheless afloat. These marks weren’t seen on different satellite tv for pc pictures captured of the vessel at port.
The measurements of the vessel and its form correspond with a Karakurt-class corvette. In Russian, “karakurt” means “Black Widow spider.”
These vessels are designed to hold Kalibr cruise missiles, the identical type of missiles that Moscow has used repeatedly in opposition to Ukrainian targets since launching the all-out struggle on Kyiv in February 2022.
The Russian Protection Ministry mentioned late Saturday that Ukrainian forces fired 15 cruise missiles on the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, with no less than two hanging a ship and the shipyard.
Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air pressure, later wrote in a web based message that he believed the strike focused a vessel carrying Kalibrs. He additionally advised Kyiv used long-range French Scalp cruise missiles within the assault.
Andriy Ryzhenko, a captain within the Ukrainian naval reserve, had instructed Ukrainian media he believed the vessel struck by the missile was the Askold. That Karakurt-class corvette was being constructed on the port when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kerch and the shipyard in July 2020.
The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent goal since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Crimea has served as the important thing hub supporting the invasion.
The assaults on Odesa additionally broken houses and grain warehouses, Zelenskyy’s workplace mentioned.
UNESCO “strongly” condemned the Russian assault on the museum. “Cultural websites have to be protected in accordance with worldwide legislation,” mentioned the assertion revealed on X, previously Twitter.
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Related Press author Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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Comply with AP’s protection of the struggle in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine