Six killed, including three children, after Russian drone hits Kharkiv park
A Russian drone strike on Nova Vodolaha's central park killed six people, among them three children, after a 12-year-old boy died in a Kyiv hospital.
Families gathered in Nova Vodolaha's central park on October 19 when a Russian drone struck the area around 4:30 p.m., causing multiple casualties. Artem Koval, 12, suffered severe injuries and died after a week of treatment in a Kyiv hospital, bringing the total fatalities to six. Among the dead were his 8-year-old sister Arina, a toddler named Anhelina, and a 14-year-old girl; the attack also injured at least 15 others, seven of them children.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported the injuries, while President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the strike as an "absolute atrocity." Ukrainian prosecutors have launched a pre-trial investigation into possible war crimes related to the incident.
Why it matters
The strike highlights the civilian toll of the conflict and triggers a war-crime probe.
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