Kramatorsk, June 27, 2023. 18 minutes after the air alarm went off, a summer evening is interrupted by an explosion in the heart of the city.
Russian rocket “Iskander” hits a pizzeria where there were full of visitors.
Rescuers, municipal workers, military and civilians rush to free survivors from under the rubble.
The Russian disinformation campaign to excuse the Russian army for another terrorist attack against civilians began a day after the missile strike.
Among the fakes and narratives, according to research by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, the most common were: “The pizzeria is a military object” and “Western mercenaries are the main target of attack.”
As evidence, the hostile media used footage where English is heard and photographs with the work of foreign instructors in the city. They stressed the presence of the military in the city and the deaths and injuries of civilians, including three Colombian citizens, were silent. It was claimed that the restaurant was not accessible to ordinary citizens.
The online publication “Gazeta.ru” in the material entitled “Military expert told about the impact on the situation from the missile strike on the headquarters of the Armed Forces in Kramatorsk” suggested that the attack was successful.
“Unfortunately, we do not know what level target has been destroyed. It can be both combat generals and rear echelons, but the fact that military mercenaries have been destroyed is beyond question.”
“Ukraina.ru” clarified: “As a result of a high-precision strike on June 27 in the city of Kramatorsk of the Donetsk People's Republic on the point of temporary deployment of the 56th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces during the meeting, 2 generals, up to 50 officers of the Armed Forces, as well as up to 20 foreigners were killed. mercenaries and military advisers.”
Aggregator of Russian news “Bezformat”: “I would like to note that the Kiev regime immediately tried to deliver a strike on the Ukrainian brigade's deployment point for attacking civilian shopkeepers. However, after the appearance of news from foreigners about the death of mercenaries in Kyiv, they tried to present them as “tourists”.
In their propaganda materials, Russians often use photos of Ukrainian documentarians.
In particular, the mentioned Gazeta.ru illustrated its material with a photo of Alexander Ratushnyak for REUTERS. In the photo “a restaurant building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in the center of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, June 27, 2023.”
An article in REUTERS with Alexander's photo, titled “Russian missile hits restaurant in Ukraine's Kramatorsk, killing at least eight,” says that “the main casualties were at a restaurant where at least three children were among the dead.”
“I came here after the explosion because I rented a cafe here... Everything was scattered there,” Valentina, 64, told Reuters. “There was no glass, no windows, no doors left. All I see is destruction, fear and horror. This is the 21st century.”
“The city has been the target of frequent attacks by the Russians, including during the shelling of the city's railway station in April 2022, which killed 63 people. Earlier this year, there were at least two strikes on residential buildings and other civilian objects.
Russia denies that it is purposefully shelling civilian facilities during a so-called “special military operation” after invading its neighbor in February 2022,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
The next day, another photographer, Sasha Maslov, visited the scene, where the rubble was still being dismantled. He saw friends and relatives of the pizzeria workers near the bombed cafe, waiting for news about their loved ones.
“I remembered the elderly — a woman and a man who covered their faces with their hands. They sat on the bench and hoped that their granddaughter was alive.”” recalls Sasha Maslov. Later, the eighteen-year-old granddaughter Tatiana and Yuri are found dead under the rubble.
“I remember in my face all the friendly, kind staff, it was one of the few places where young people would go on dates and families would go on birthdays. It was full of journalists, humanitarian workers, soldiers resting, but it didn't matter — it was full of people. And it was cozy at home,” - a quote from Sasha's Instagram.
As a result of the shelling of “Ria”, which during the Great War was one of the most popular institutions in Kramatorsk, 13 people died on June 27, 2023, including 4 children. Only two of the dead were military, all the others were civilians, workers and visitors to the cafe.
That evening, Ukrainian writer and public figure Victoria Amelina was fatally wounded in the restaurant “Ria” in the center of Kramatorsk. A delegation from Colombia, which together with Victoria was in Kramatorsk, was also wounded.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Victoria Amelina joined the Truth Hounds team of war crimes field investigators.
Kramatorsk is a city in eastern Ukraine, to which the front line is approaching. Despite this, the city has cozy locations — meeting and recreation places for local youth, volunteers, journalists and military returning from the front.
The material was created with the support of The Fritt Ord Foundation.
Kramatorsk, June 27, 2023. 18 minutes after the air alarm went off, a summer evening is interrupted by an explosion in the heart of the city.
Russian rocket “Iskander” hits a pizzeria where there were full of visitors.
Rescuers, municipal workers, military and civilians rush to free survivors from under the rubble.
The Russian disinformation campaign to excuse the Russian army for another terrorist attack against civilians began a day after the missile strike.
Among the fakes and narratives, according to research by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, the most common were: “The pizzeria is a military object” and “Western mercenaries are the main target of attack.”
As evidence, the hostile media used footage where English is heard and photographs with the work of foreign instructors in the city. They stressed the presence of the military in the city and the deaths and injuries of civilians, including three Colombian citizens, were silent. It was claimed that the restaurant was not accessible to ordinary citizens.
The online publication “Gazeta.ru” in the material entitled “Military expert told about the impact on the situation from the missile strike on the headquarters of the Armed Forces in Kramatorsk” suggested that the attack was successful.
“Unfortunately, we do not know what level target has been destroyed. It can be both combat generals and rear echelons, but the fact that military mercenaries have been destroyed is beyond question.”
“Ukraina.ru” clarified: “As a result of a high-precision strike on June 27 in the city of Kramatorsk of the Donetsk People's Republic on the point of temporary deployment of the 56th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces during the meeting, 2 generals, up to 50 officers of the Armed Forces, as well as up to 20 foreigners were killed. mercenaries and military advisers.”
Aggregator of Russian news “Bezformat”: “I would like to note that the Kiev regime immediately tried to deliver a strike on the Ukrainian brigade's deployment point for attacking civilian shopkeepers. However, after the appearance of news from foreigners about the death of mercenaries in Kyiv, they tried to present them as “tourists”.
In their propaganda materials, Russians often use photos of Ukrainian documentarians.
In particular, the mentioned Gazeta.ru illustrated its material with a photo of Alexander Ratushnyak for REUTERS. In the photo “a restaurant building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in the center of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, June 27, 2023.”
An article in REUTERS with Alexander's photo, titled “Russian missile hits restaurant in Ukraine's Kramatorsk, killing at least eight,” says that “the main casualties were at a restaurant where at least three children were among the dead.”
“I came here after the explosion because I rented a cafe here... Everything was scattered there,” Valentina, 64, told Reuters. “There was no glass, no windows, no doors left. All I see is destruction, fear and horror. This is the 21st century.”
“The city has been the target of frequent attacks by the Russians, including during the shelling of the city's railway station in April 2022, which killed 63 people. Earlier this year, there were at least two strikes on residential buildings and other civilian objects.
Russia denies that it is purposefully shelling civilian facilities during a so-called “special military operation” after invading its neighbor in February 2022,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
The next day, another photographer, Sasha Maslov, visited the scene, where the rubble was still being dismantled. He saw friends and relatives of the pizzeria workers near the bombed cafe, waiting for news about their loved ones.
“I remembered the elderly — a woman and a man who covered their faces with their hands. They sat on the bench and hoped that their granddaughter was alive.”” recalls Sasha Maslov. Later, the eighteen-year-old granddaughter Tatiana and Yuri are found dead under the rubble.
“I remember in my face all the friendly, kind staff, it was one of the few places where young people would go on dates and families would go on birthdays. It was full of journalists, humanitarian workers, soldiers resting, but it didn't matter — it was full of people. And it was cozy at home,” - a quote from Sasha's Instagram.
As a result of the shelling of “Ria”, which during the Great War was one of the most popular institutions in Kramatorsk, 13 people died on June 27, 2023, including 4 children. Only two of the dead were military, all the others were civilians, workers and visitors to the cafe.
That evening, Ukrainian writer and public figure Victoria Amelina was fatally wounded in the restaurant “Ria” in the center of Kramatorsk. A delegation from Colombia, which together with Victoria was in Kramatorsk, was also wounded.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Victoria Amelina joined the Truth Hounds team of war crimes field investigators.
Kramatorsk is a city in eastern Ukraine, to which the front line is approaching. Despite this, the city has cozy locations — meeting and recreation places for local youth, volunteers, journalists and military returning from the front.
The material was created with the support of The Fritt Ord Foundation.
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
