Ukraine confirmed on Monday that 19 service members were killed by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia during a military awards ceremony in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lamented was a “tragedy that could’ve been avoided.”
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has ordered an investigation into why the 128th Separate Mountain-Assault Brigade of Zakarpattia participated in the crowded event Friday honoring troops for Rocket Forces and Artillery Day so close to front lines, reports AP.
The announcement came as officials said Russian drone and missile strikes in Odesa wounded eight people and damaged an art museum that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and satellite photos showed damage done by a Ukrainian missile strike to a Russian naval ship.
Photos and video showed shattered windows, doors, and some paintings lying on the floor amid debris strewn across the galleries.
The attack followed reports by the Russian Defense Ministry that Ukrainian cruise missiles aimed at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, a city in the east of the Moscow-held Crimean Peninsula, had struck one of its vessels.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed damage to a Russian navy corvette moored off Kerch.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
