Russian strikes in Vinnytsia kill at least 23, with gruesome civilian toll

Russian missiles struck a business complex in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Thursday, killing at least 23 people in an attack Ukrainian authorities described as a war crime and act of terrorism.

Cruise missiles launched from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea damaged a nine-story office block and destroyed cars in its parking lot, far from the war’s front lines, about 10:50 a.m. local time, Ukrainian officials said, according to Reuters. Restaurants and nearby residential buildings also appeared to have been struck. President Volodymyr Zelensky said two “community facilities” had been destroyed.

Serhiy Borzov, the region’s governor, said Russian forces fired four missiles in total. Ukrainian authorities found and confirmed the remnants of two that hit, and the other two were shot down by Ukrainian air defense.