Ukrainian prosecutor’s office raises death toll in Kramatorsk restaurant attack to four

At least four people were killed and 47 injured on Tuesday in a Russian rocket attack that hit a popular restaurant in central Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, authorities said.

“Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, were killed when a shell fell on the restaurant,” said Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office, reporting 42 injuries of varying severity at the site, including an eight month old baby.

The prosecution also noted that the Russian rocket attack hit a residential area on the outskirts of the city, injuring five residents who were in their homes.

“The impact caused a fire. There may be people under the rubble, the final number of victims is still being determined,” he added.

The attack hit the Ria Pizza restaurant, an establishment frequented by journalists and soldiers in this city in eastern Ukraine, the last major urban center under Kiev control before the front.

There were former Colombian peace commissioner Sergio Jaramillo and the novelist from the same country, Héctor Abad Faciolince, who suffered “minor injuries”, said a statement signed by the two.

With them was Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who “is in critical condition due to a skull injury, likely caused by shards of glass and beams”.

According to Ukrainian police, Russia fired two S-300 surface-to-air rockets.

An AFP journalist saw a large deployment of ambulances, police and soldiers, as well as many residents gathered in front of the bombed restaurant.

A dusty cook, Roslan, 32, said at the time of the attack “there were quite a few people” in the restaurant and pointing to himself he added: “I was lucky”.

One woman, Natalia, tearfully recounted that her brother Nikita, 23, was in the pizza prep area and rescuers “couldn’t get him out” of the rubble.

Kramatorsk, a pre-war city of 150,000, is the last major urban center under Ukrainian control in the east of the country and is about 30 km from the front line. (EFE)