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Kupiansk civilian convoy shelling

Coordinates: 49°39′24.4″N 37°44′51.2″E / 49.656778°N 37.747556°E / 49.656778; 37.747556
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kupiansk civilian convoy shelling
Part of the 2022 Ukrainian eastern counteroffensive in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
LocationA kilometre from stopping point (831 km) on path along the railway track between the villages of Kurylivka and Pishchane, Kupyanskyi district, Kharkiv region, Ukraine at that time  — "gray zone"
Coordinates49°39′24.4″N 37°44′51.2″E / 49.656778°N 37.747556°E / 49.656778; 37.747556
DateSeptember 25, 2022
~09:00 (UTC+3)[1]
TargetArmed Forces of Ukraine
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths26 (including 13 children and a pregnant woman)[2]
InjuredAt least 3 (including 2 children)[3][4]
Perpetrators Russian Armed Forces

The Kupiansk civilian convoy shelling was a deliberate killing of Ukrainian civilians carried out by the Russian Army on 25 September 2022 on the Kurylivka-Pishchane highway near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Twenty-six civilians were killed, half of whom were children.

At that time, the section of the road was in the "gray zone".[5][6] The Ukrainian military was not able to reach the scene until 1 October 2022.

History

During late September 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine staged an offensive attack to liberate Russian-occupied territory in the Kharkiv region. The town of Kupyansk-Vuzlovy and nearby villages were liberated on September 27.[7]

Three days later, on September 30, Ukrainian soldiers found the bodies of civilians on the outskirts of the village of Kurylivka. The corpses were discovered in six cars and a van that had been shot and burned out while trying to leave in the direction of the village of Pishchane.[8]

Following news reports, seven witnesses to the tragedy came forward. They had managed to escape to the village of Kivsharivka. According to their testimony, on the morning of September 25, their evacuation convoy left Kurylivka in the direction of Svatove, Starobilsk, through what they believed was the only road open - all other roads had bridges destroyed, and the village was limited by a river and a swamp. At about 9 o'clock their column was ambushed by a Russian sabotage group which shot at the convoy from both sides. Infantry weapons were used to kill the wounded and those who tried to escape.

Law enforcement officers subsequently identified all the victims of the motorcade as local residents. Among the dead was a carrier who organized the refugee convoy, he had charged 6,000 Hryvnias per person for evacuation and was a former resident of Kupyansk-Vuzlovoi.[6][9][10]

During the shooting, two children – 1 years old and 5+1⁄2 years old – managed to escape. The children's parents died in the column.[11] Preliminary data said there were about 24 dead, among them a pregnant woman and 13 children. Twelve of the dead had been named by October 20 2022.[9][10]

A further victim was discovered on October 17 2022 – a 19-year-old youth was wounded who died in a forest lane from his injuries after walking 1.5 kilometres.[11] The number of dead was finally reckoned as 26 people,[11] 22 people managed to escape.[9]

Some of the physical evidence (the bodies of the victims and the car) was examined by French experts. They discovered signs of the use of 30 mm and 45 mm high-explosive shells, as well as VOG-17 and VOG-25 grenades.[12]

References

  1. ^ Федоркова, Тетяна (2022-10-01). "Російський обстріл колони під Куп'янськом на Харківщині: свідчення однієї з уцілілих". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  2. ^ Федоркова, Тетяна (2022-10-18). "Слідчі знайшли ще одного загиблого від російського обстрілу колони під Куп'янськом і двох уцілілих дітей". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  3. ^ Солодовнік, Марія (2022-10-04). "Розстріл колони під Куп'янськом: люди, які вижили, розказали про напад та свій порятунок". Суспільне | Новини (in Ukrainian). Suspilne. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Двох дітей, які вижили під час розстрілу колони під Куп'янськом, вдалося повернути додому. Ще двоє залишаються в руках окупантів" (in Ukrainian). Gordon.ua. 2022-10-19. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  5. ^ "RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, SEPTEMBER 10". Institute for the Study of War. September 10, 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  6. ^ a b "Обстріл автоколони на Харківщині: 24 загиблих, серед них вагітна і 13 дітей" [Shelling of a motorcade in Kharkiv Region: 24 dead, including a pregnant woman and 13 children]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  7. ^ "На Харківщині звільнили Куп'янськ-Вузловий, ще 6% області – під окупацією" [In Kharkiv region, Kupyansk-Vuzlovy was liberated, another 6% of the region is under occupation]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  8. ^ Fedorkova, Tatyana (September 30, 2022). "Російські окупанти обстріляли цивільну колону біля Куп'янська — військовий" [Russian occupiers fired at a civilian convoy near Kupyansk — a military one]. Suspilne.
  9. ^ a b c "Розстріл автоколони під Куп'янськом: ідентифікували 12 із 26 жертв" [Shooting of a motorcade near Kupyansk: 12 out of 26 victims have been identified]. Ukrinform (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  10. ^ a b "Знайдено 25 жертву розстрілу автоколони на Харківщині: літня жінка проповзла 200 м" [The 25th victim of the motorcade shooting in Kharkiv region was found: an elderly woman crawled 200 miles]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  11. ^ a b c ""Пройшов 1,5 км та помер": правоохоронці виявили 26 жертву розстрілу колони на Харківщині" ["Walked 1.5 km and died": law enforcement officers found the 26th victim of the convoy shooting in the Kharkiv region]. Новини України - #Букви. 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  12. ^ "Експерти визначили, з якої зброї окупанти розстріляли колону на Харківщині" [Experts have determined with which weapon the occupiers shot the convoy in the Kharkiv region]. Ukrainska Pravda (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-11-02.
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