On June 27th, a Russian missile struck an hotel, shop and restaurant complex in Kramatorsk.
The BBC reported that eight people had been killed, including three children. A later BBC report, told that:
The award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina has died from her injuries after a Russian missile hit a pizza restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday.
Amelina, 37, was dining with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers in the city’s popular Ria Lounge when the missile hit.
Another report told us that ‘Regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television “these were public eating places crowded with civilians.”‘ Another that ‘A well-known restaurant that was frequented by journalists and aid workers was destroyed,’ and that ‘Twin sisters among 11 killed by Russian strike in Ukraine’, and that ‘At least 60 others were injured.’
Despite all of these details, neither in reports nor in BBC News broadcasts, is any emphasis given to the presence of military personnel. The BBC is not alone. All western media reports and broadcast items mentioning the missile strike omit mention of any significant military presence and concentrate attention upon ‘civilian’ casualties alone.
And yet post-strike footage of the scene clearly show the scale of the Ukrainian military presence, as well as a large number of non-Ukrainian military.
Another video also highlights the scene from above and within the restaurant area. In the latter sequence the cameraman clearly states that ‘there’s soldiers under this rubble… all over.’
On June 28th, the Russian Ministry of Defence made a short statement…
In the city of Kramatorsk of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the point of temporary deployment of the command staff of the 56th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was hit.
On June 29th the news agency Readovka, reported…
“The Western organization for the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that there were Ukrainian militants and mercenaries at the place of arrival in Kramatorsk
“Project Konstantin” – a Western organization, hiding behind the guise of providing humanitarian assistance, and in fact preparing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed that there were foreign instructors and soldiers at the place of arrival in Kramatorsk. In her social networks, she published footage of the removal of rubble.
According to one of the foreigners with the call sign “Peter”, who works in the organization, he, along with his colleague nicknamed “Fenton”, pulled out the soldiers from under the rubble. By the way, according to the mercenary, they, together with the Fenton, retreated out of harm’s way from the place where the rubble was cleared, because they were “afraid of a second strike.”
The blow, we recall, fell on the RIA Lounge restaurant, in which the command of the 56th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their Western curators were located. Adjacent to the same building is a hotel where Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries allegedly lived. Also, a tattoo of the 3rd Ranger Battalion of the US Army was noticed on one of the injured men. At the same time, the RIA Lounge restaurant was a favorite place for legionnaires, which they regularly wrote about in their social networks.”
On June 29th, TASS reported…
Two Ukrainian generals and up to 50 officers along with about 20 foreign mercenaries and military advisers were eliminated in Russia’s strike on the Kiev forces’ deployment site in Kramatorsk, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Thursday.
“According to the updated information, a June 27 precision strike on the temporary deployment site of the Ukrainian army’s 56th motorized infantry brigade in the city of Kramatorsk eliminated two generals, up to fifty officers of the Ukrainian armed forces and also up to twenty foreign mercenaries and military advisers who participated in a staff meeting,” the spokesman said.
Photographic and video evidence from the scene, as well as witness testimony, appears to confirm the Russian accounts and the claim of the Russian Ministry of Defence, that there were significant numbers of officers and soldiers, including foreign mercenaries/volunteers in the premises at the time of the missile strike.
In other words, a legitimate target for any military force in time of war.
The intent of the strike can be assumed from the use of ordnance against this particular target. It wasn’t an accident, a misfire, or a friendly ground-to-air missile. This also infers intelligence sources had been involved in target selection. The post-strike evidence confirms the accuracy of the intelligence, the targeting intent, and the target legitimacy.
Interestingly, the BBC did publish a report concerning an alleged Russian spy that, it is claimed, sent a video to the Russian military showing the restaurant hours prior to the strike. But again, though offering details of civilian casualties (‘including Colombian nationals’), no mention of the significant military presence. Whatsoever.
Observations ~
Soldiers and officers should not stay in hotels or use civilian restaurants during war while within range of attack, particularly in such large numbers. That they did this – in Kramatorsk, which has been attacked on numerous occasions over the course of this conflict due to it’s strategic and logistical importance – indicates a carelessness for civilian life that staggers belief.
Similarly, setting aside emotionality, hotel and restaurant managers should exercise a duty of care towards their employees and refuse to admit military personnel onto their civilian premises, particularly in such numbers. Finally, workers should take some measure of self-responsibility and not put themselves at risk of harm by working in such an obvious militarised environment, within strike range of missiles, during a time of war.