Overview
- Regional authorities report a preliminary toll of 24 people killed, including a child, and more than 50 wounded after drones hit a cafe and adjacent hotel in Khorly during New Year’s celebrations.
- Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case classifying the incident as a terrorist act, and senior officials publicly condemned the attack and called for accountability.
- Local officials describe an initial reconnaissance drone directing multiple attack UAVs, including one carrying an incendiary munition, and say a fire burned for over six hours and impeded aid to the wounded.
- Medical teams transferred multiple patients to hospitals in Crimea, with four initially treated in Dzhankoy and one woman on a ventilator after surgery, while 19 people remain hospitalized in the Kherson region.
- Images and video from the scene show heavily damaged hotel rooms and a burned cafe as recovery of bodies continued, with correspondents noting ongoing reconnaissance drone activity overhead; Moscow and St. Petersburg offered assistance.