A year after the tragedy: Russian Iskander strike at a wake in Kharkiv region kills about 60 people

A year ago, on October 5, 2023, Russian troops launched an Iskander missile attack on the village of Groza in the Kharkiv region, which resulted in the death of 59 people. The rocket hit a cafe where a memorial dinner was held for a soldier who was recently reburied in his native village. Among the victims were 36 women, 22 men and an eight-year-old boy.

“These were ordinary residents of the village: pensioners, doctors, farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs. An enemy attack on a small settlement took the lives of entire families of local residents – in several generations. 15 families lost two or more family members.”, – commented Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv OVA, said the tragedy.

As a result of the explosion, the cafe and the nearby small shop were completely destroyed. Identification of many of the dead had to be carried out with the help of DNA testing due to severe damage to the bodies.

The Security Service of Ukraine established that two local residents, brothers Volodymyr (30 years old) and Dmytro Mamon (23 years old), who during the occupation went over to the side of the Russian invaders, were involved in the launching of the missiles. They received “positions” in the occupation “department of internal affairs” of the Kharkiv region, and before the liberation of the region, they fled to Russia with their families, continuing to work for the Russian Federation.