2023 Kramatorsk restaurant missile strike

Not to be confused with Kramatorsk railway station attack (8 April 2022) or February 2015 Kramatorsk rocket attack.

On the evening of 27 June 2023, at around 7:30 p.m., Russia launched two Iskander^[1] ballistic missile strikes against civilian buildings in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 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, a 17-year-old girl, a pair of 14-year old twin sisters and Ian Tortorici, a US Marine Corps veteran,^[7] while 61 were injured in the explosions. Another missile hit a village on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, injuring five more people.^[8][9][10]

June 2023 Kramatorsk missile strike
Part of the eastern Ukraine campaign
Kramatorsk restaurant after the Russian missile strike
Pizzeria
Location	Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Coordinates	48°44′07″N 37°35′13″E
Date	27 June 2023 7:30 pm
Weapon	Iskander ballistic missile[1][2]
Deaths	13 (including 4 children)[3][1]
Injured	65 (including an 8-month-old baby)[4][5][6]
Perpetrators	Russia

The restaurant was popular among locals, soldiers, foreign correspondents and aid workers.^[11] Among the injured were Colombian novelist and journalist Héctor Abad Faciolince and his friend Sergio Jaramillo Caro.^[11][12] Kramatorsk was 24 kilometers from the battle front at the time.^[9]

Responses

The attack occurred shortly after the conclusion of the Wagner Group rebellion in Russia, which threatened the authority of President Vladimir Putin.^[9] High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 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.^[9]

US President Joe Biden condemned the attack and said that Putin became a "pariah around the world".^[12] Denise Brown, UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, issued a statement describing the attack as "another example of [the] inexcusable 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".^[13]

PEN Ukraine and Truth Hounds referred to the strike as a war crime, with the latter being the organization Ukrainian writer and victim of the strike Victoria Amelina was a war crimes documentarian for. PEN Ukraine stated that "They clearly knew that they were shelling a place with many civilians inside".^[14] Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn 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".^[8] France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna condemned the strike and called it a war crime,^[15] and so did Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs.^[16]

Victims

Pizzeria employees:

1. Andriichuk Kateryna Andriivna, born 2004 (18 years old; cook)
2. Bashkeeva Zoryana Valeriivna, born 1999 (24 years old; waitress)
3. Yevgenia Oleksandrivna Golovchenko, born December 2005 (17; dryer)
4. Mykyta Valentynovich Dolgopol, born April 25, 1999 (24; senior cook)
5. Zakharov Roman Ruslanovich (20 years old, waiter)
6. Valeriya Ruslanivna Simonnik, born August 23, 2005 (17; dryer)
7. Titoruk Artur Volodymyrovych, born 1994 (28 years old; administrator)

Pizzeria visitors:

1. Twin sisters Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko, born September 4, 2008 (14; schoolchildren)
2. Amelina Viktoriya Yuriivna, born January 1, 1986 (37; writer) ^[17]
3. Orlovsky Artur (30 years old, entrepreneur)
4. Artem Olegovich Suhoviy (22 years old, combat medic 1 ShB 3 OShBr)^[18]
5. Ian Tortorici, call sign "Frank" (23 years old, volunteer International Legion, former US Marine)^[19]

Gallery

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See also

• Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• April 2023 Sloviansk airstrike
• Kramatorsk railway station attack
• February 2015 Kramatorsk rocket attack
• Russian war crimes

References

1. "Ukraine says suspect directed Russia missile attack in Kramatorsk". Al Jazeera. 29 June 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
2. "Історія обстрілу піцерії в Краматорську. Як російська пропаганда перекладає свої злочини на ЗСУ". Ukrainian Pravda. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
3. "Kramatorsk: Ukraine accuses man of treason over deadly Russian missile attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
4. "У Краматорську завершили рятувальну операцію: 12 загиблих" [Rescue operation completed in Kramatorsk: 12 dead] (in Ukrainian). Deutsche Welle. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
5. "Афганець, друг в «ДНР» та фатальне відео: Деталі про підозрюваного у коригуванні вогню по Краматорську" [An Afghan, a friend in the "DNR" and the fatal video: Details about the suspect in adjusting the fire in Kramatorsk]. Українська правда (in Ukrainian). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
6. "ОГП уточнив дані по Краматорську: серед загиблих — 17-річна дівчина, серед поранених — 8-місячне немовля" (in Ukrainian). Radio Svoboda. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
7. Jeff Schogol (3 July 2023). "Marine veteran killed by Russian missile strike on restaurant in Ukraine". Task & Purpose. Archived from the original on 5 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
8. Sunita Patel-Carstairs (27 June 2023). "Ukraine war: Russian missile 'designed to bring down a plane' hits crowded pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk". Sky News. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
9. Ivana Kottasová (27 June 2023). "Kramatorsk restaurant strike shows that in Ukraine, death can come any time, anywhere". CNN. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
10. Mayeni Jones, James Gregory (27 June 2023). "Kramatorsk: Russian missile strike hits restaurants in Ukrainian city". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
11. Cassandra Vinograd, Thomas Gibbons-Neff (27 June 2023). "A Russian missile hits a crowded restaurant in Kramatorsk, killing at least 4". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
12. Luke Harding (27 June 2023). "Four children among 11 killed in missile strike on Ukraine pizza restaurant". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
13. "Statement by the Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, on the attack on Kramatorsk". United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
14. "Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina dies following Kramatorsk bombing". EFE. 3 July 2023.
15. "France calls Russia's missile attack on Kramatorsk as war crime". Ukrinform. 30 June 2023.
16. Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden [@SweMFA] (28 June 2023). "Attacking train stations, malls & restaurants is part of Russia's warfare against Ukraine. Russia's attack in Kramatorsk is a brutal reminder of its disregard for civilian lives. Attacks directed against civilians constitute a war crime. War criminals will be brought to justice" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 November 2023 – via Twitter.
17. "Writer Viktoria Amelina has died" (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
18. ""He loved life": a 22-year-old combat medic from Cherkasy died in the war with Russia" (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
19. "U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Orange County killed in Ukraine". CBS News. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.