On Thursday, Russia claimed that a Ukrainian drone strike resulted in the deaths of at least 24 individuals, including a child. The incident reportedly took place at a hotel and café where people were celebrating the New Year in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

The Ukrainian military, which has previously accused Russia of targeting civilians in Ukrainian cities, did not immediately issue a comment in response to an email inquiry.

The accusation initially came from Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of the region. Following his statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry and several senior politicians labeled the incident as “a terrorist attack” orchestrated by Ukraine.

Reuters has not yet been able to independently verify the authenticity of the photographs shared by Saldo’s press office, which purportedly depict the aftermath of the attack.

The images show at least one covered body beneath a white sheet. The building appears to have been severely damaged by fire, with visible bloodstains on the surrounding ground.

Saldo said in his statement that three Ukrainian drones had struck the site of New Year celebrations in Khorly, a coastal village, in what he said was a “deliberate strike” against civilians. He said that many people had been burnt alive.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said initial information indicated that 24 people, including one child, had been killed, and that 50 people had been injured, including six minors who were being treated in hospital.

“There is no doubt that the attack was planned in advance, with drones deliberately targeting areas where civilians had gathered to celebrate New Year’s Eve,” the ministry said in a statement, calling the attack “a war crime”.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, told the TASS state news agency that Moscow would seek its revenge on the battlefield and said that those who carried out the attack and their commanders should be targeted.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Telegram that Ukraine’s backers in the West were ultimately to blame. Senior politicians, including the speakers of both houses of Russia’s parliament, condemned Kyiv.

Kherson is one of four regions in Ukraine which Russia claimed as its own in 2022, a move Kyiv and most Western countries denounced as an illegal land grab.