Ukraine-Russia war – live: Deadly Russian attack on memorial service was no blind strike, says Zelensky

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has said a Russian missile attack that killed 51 people at a memorial service was “no blind strike” and that Russian troops could not have been unaware of where they were striking. A Russian missile slammed into a cafe and shop in a village in northeastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing 51 people in Hroza village in the eastern Kharkiv region. The attack – thought to have been carried out using an Iskander ballistic missile – appears to have caused one of the biggest civilian death tolls in any single Russian strike. “One-fifth of this village has died in a single terrorist attack,” said regional Governor Oleh Synehubov. Mr Zelensky, who was attending a summit with European leaders, said: “Russian troops could not have been unaware of where they were hitting. This was no blind strike.” Separately, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet was forced into a major retreat from a Crimea port, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War. At least 10 of Vladimir Putin’s warships retreated 237 miles to “bases further in the Russian rear” following intensified Ukrainian attacks. Read More Former Russian state TV journalist gets 8 1/2-year sentence in absentia for Ukraine war criticism Russia facing ‘functional defeat’ in the Black Sea – but Kyiv allies warn they are running out of ammunition Russia may attack civilian ships with sea mines and blame Ukraine, UK warns