Drone Strike on Kharkiv Oblast Park Kills 6, Including 3 Children

A Russian drone struck the central park in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv Oblast, on Monday, Oct. 19, killing six people, including three children. Another 15 people were injured, seven of them children, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov.

The Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office said the attack came at about 4:30 p.m., when many people, including families with children, were in the park. Preliminary findings indicate the strike was carried out with a Geran-3 drone.

"The occupiers struck the central park of Nova Vodolaha with a drone at a time when many people were there, including families with children. Sadly, two women and an infant in a stroller were killed,"

said Ivan Vyhivskyi of the prosecutor's office in the first account of the attack.

Casualty figures rose through the evening

Initial reports spoke of 14 injured, seven of them children. Syniehubov later said the number of injured had risen to 15, and in an update at 6:32 p.m. he said the death toll had reached six, three of the victims being children. All the injured are receiving medical care.

A café building was also damaged. Law enforcement and emergency services are working at the scene, helping the injured and checking the area for explosive objects. The effects of the attack are still being established.

The prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into a war crime that resulted in deaths. More on the war and its effects is in our World section.