Moscow [Russia], June 29: The death toll from the Russian missile attack on a cafe in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday evening has risen to 10, including three children, Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday.
Two of the three children were born in 2008 and the other in 2011, according to a statement. Initially authorities reported eight dead.
A total of 61 people were injured, up from the 56 reported earlier. The Ukrainian secret service SBU confirmed on Wednesday the arrest of the employee of a local gas company suspected of having spied on the cafe the day before as a target for the Russian army.
The destroyed cafe near the "Kramatorsk" hotel was a popular meeting place for volunteers, foreign press and soldiers, Ukrainian media said and foreigners are also among the injured.
Three members of the Colombian civil initiative Aguanta Ucraina (Hang on Ukraine) were wounded when the missile hit the cafe on Tuesday evening, according to the organisation. The founder of the initiative, former Colombian ambassador to the EU Sergio Jaramillo, is said to be among the injured.
Emergency workers continued to clear debris to search for people who might still be trapped under the rubble, according to authorities.
In his nightly video address on Tuesday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian strike on Kramatorsk as yet another war crime which, like other war crimes, should be tried in a court of law.
Against the background of violence, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told dpa that he favours direct talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.
"I believe the only intelligent solution now would be for Putin and Zelensky to really talk to each other." Zelensky has said he would only agree to talks once Russia withdraws its troops from all of Ukraine, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014 in violation of international law.
Bettel said "unfortunately President Putin was not ready to find a constructive solution."
Source: Qatar Tribune
