The Russian missile attack of Kramatorsk was purposely executed on civilian buildings. During the attack of the pizzeria in Kramatorsk, 12 civilians were killed, and dozens injured. The fact that an American soldier was there eating does not make the building “legitimate military target”, as claimed by Russia. The post is disseminating Russian propaganda that the target of the attack was a military building bypassing the fact highlighted in the video shared that the American soldier was on leave and had gone to the pizzeria to have lunch, writes Truthmeter.mk.
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Post on Facebook suggests that in the Russian missile attack of Kramatorsk from 27th of June, military targets were hit, a narrative pushed by Russian propaganda. This is not true. Civilians were killed in the pizzeria attack in Kramatorsk.
I thought civilians were killed in Kramatorsk. Where is this coming from now, says the post we are fact-checking.
The post shares a KCAL News video revealing that in the attack of the pizzeria, Ian Frank Tortorici, was killed, an American soldier who grew up in Lake Forest and began volunteering in the Ukrainian International Legion 15 months ago.
The video clearly stresses, quoting his family, that he was on leave that weekend and was having a pizza in the restaurant when the Russian missile hit and destroyed the civilian area.
On 27th of June, Russian missiles hit Kramatorsk, a city controlled by the Ukrainian government in Eastern part of Ukraine, close to the territory occupied by Russia. The missile hit a restaurant full of people, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.
Following the attack, Moscow’s supreme propaganda expert, Olga Skabeyeva, said that Russia fired the missiles on Kramatorsk claiming that the attack was targeting ”legitimate military aims”.
Dmitry Peskov, Press-Secretary of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, responded to the international rage caused by the Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Kramatorsk.
The Russian Federation does not strike at civilian infrastructure. Strikes are carried out on objects that are somehow connected with the military infrastructure, said Peskov.
Russian Ministry of Defence stated that the target of the attack was a ”temporary deployment point” of Ukrainian troops in the city of Kramatorsk in Eastern Ukraine.
According to the updated information, two generals and up to 50 officers of the armed forces of Ukraine as well as up to 20 foreign mercenaries and military advisors who participated in the staff meeting were destroyed”, said spokesman Igor Konashenkov at a press briefing in Moscow.
This is not true.
Ukrainian Police announced that Russia hit Kramatorsk with two “Iskander” missiles. Independent observers confirmed that Russia launched the missiles, specifies Polygraph.info.
Sitrep for June 27-28:
– Russia hits Kramatorsk café with an Iskander ballistic missile, leaving at least 11 dead and over 50 injured;
– Putin admits the Wagner Group was funded by Russia;
– Rosgvardia plans to acquire tanks through state defense orders.https://t.co/9pfiwsvooR pic.twitter.com/LFuVkbWuqA— CIT (en) (@CITeam_en) June 28, 2023
The primary missile strike hit Ria Lounge, a popular downtown Kramatorsk pizza resaurant frequented by journalists, aid workers and Ukrainian soldiers.
On 29th of June, the Ukrainian Emergency Service reported that 12 people were killed and 60 were injured in the attack. It also confirmed that in the Russian missile attack on Ria Lounge, 14-year old twin sisters and a 17-year old girl were killed.
These 14 year old twin sisters, Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko were killed in the Russian attack on Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. Total of 9 dead identified so far including another child and more than 50 wounded. Photo released by the city council https://t.co/zgDlEWz2nP pic.twitter.com/KLi9gKfSIH
— Jeremy Bowen (@BowenBBC) June 28, 2023
In the attack, numerous residential buildings, schools and other infrastructure was damaged.
The second missile attack hit a private house on the outskirts of the city and injured five people.
Under the laws of war, the fact that soldiers have visited Ria Lounge as customers, does not make them a legitimate military target, reports Polygraph.info.
Ukraine is a country at war, and military personnel do have frequent civilian duties.
Colin Freeman from British Telegraph, who left the restaurant just before the attack summarized that reality:
Troops can be found in just about every restaurant in Ukraine; in a war that has required so many civilians to take up arms, those in uniform don’t just live in barracks.
Freeman said that it seemed “certain” that the attack was deliberate. He quoted a top official of the the Ukrainian Army saying that Russia performed a “deliberate attack on Civilian object” as part of their “missile terror campaign”.
Therefore, we can conclude that the Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk was purposely performed on civilian facilities. That fact that an American soldier was there to eat, does not make the facility a “legitimate military target”, as claimed by Russia. The fact is that during the attack of the pizza establishment in Kramatorsk, 12 civilians were killed and dozens were injured. The post is bypassing the fact highlighted in the shared video that an American soldier having lunch in the pizzeria was on leave, thereby disseminating Russian propaganda about the target of the attack being a military facility.
Therefore, due to all of the above-noted reasons, we assess the post as lacking context. The way it has been reported throws a shadow of doubt that the attacked building in Kramatorsk was a legitimate military target, i.e., concealing the facts that clearly indicate that the facility was civilian and the casualties from the attack were mainly civilian.
