The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) stated that it has reasonable grounds to believe that on October 5, the Russian Federation launched a missile attack on the village of Hroza, Kupiansk district, Kharkiv region, which killed 59 civilians.

According to the HRMMU press service, the new report, which was published on Tuesday, concluded that Russia either failed to take all practicable measures to ensure that the planned target of attack was a military target or deliberately directed an attack at civilians or a civilian object, which in any case constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

The head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), Danielle Bell, said the attack serves as a stark reminder of the human impact of the war in Ukraine and underscores the need to bring those responsible to justice.

The report also states that extensive damage and weapons remains found at the scene of the incident indicate that the likely cause of the explosion was a Russian Iskander missile, which hit the only cafe in the village approximately 20-25 minutes after 63 local residents gathered there to honor the memory of a Ukrainian soldier who had died in the war earlier, and been reburied in Hroza.

UN human rights observers documented that all the victims were civilians and that there were no military personnel or any other legitimate military targets at the memorial dinner in or near the cafe.

The report also details the extremely devastating impact of the strike, with 15 local families losing more than one family member as a result. A local resident said that her daughter's friend could only be identified by her manicure when rescuers discovered her hand. Many of the remaining victims were identified solely through DNA testing.

The report calls on the Russian Federation to accept responsibility for civilian casualties resulting from the strike, conduct a full and transparent investigation into the attack to bring those responsible to justice and prevent similar attacks in the future, and provide access to legal remedies, including compensation for direct and indirect victims.