Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RUK010

Incident date

February 26, 2022

Location

Волохів Яр, Volokhiv Yar, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Geolocation

49.600219, 36.9786094 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Village level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

On February 26th 2022, between one and five civilians were killed, including two 42 year old women and three young men, two who were born in 2000 and 2004, were reported killed and 14 others reported wounded when a passenger bus was hit by alleged Russian gunfire in the village of Volokhiv Yar, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Espreso.tv put the death toll at five, and stated that “all five dead and wounded are from the local Toretsk community,” quoting the of the Donetsk regional administration Pavel Kirilenko. Other local sources from local media and Twitter put the death toll between one to five. Pravda News indicated that two 42 year old women were killed in this incident.

Multiple local sources including @insheTV5 identified the incident as occurring on the Izyum-Kharkov highway.

Kotenok Z, a Russian war correspondent, and Russian news site Donbass Today both reported that it was “possible” that Ukrainian forces could’ve carried out the shelling because of the “concentration of AFU equipment on Saltovka.”

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Volokhiv Yar (Волохів Яр), for which the generic coordinates are: 49.600219, 36.9786094. Due to limited satellite imagery and information available to Airwars, we were unable to verify the location further.

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 5
  • (2 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    14
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military

Sources (14) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (4) [ collapse]

  • "On the Izyum-Kharkov highway, the Russian military fired at a passenger bus, 1 person was killed, 14 were injured." (Image via Samvel Sahakyan / Facebook)
  • "On Saturday, February 26, in the Kharkiv region on the Izyum-Kharkov highway, the Russian military fired on a passenger bus with people." (Image via Aif.ua)
  • "Russia continues to attack the civilian population of Ukraine. On the section of the Izyum-Kharkov highway, the enemy fired on a bus with civilians. There are wounded, one person died," Head of Kharkiv regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov said (Image via The Planet Press)
  • Invaders fired at a passenger bus on the Izyum-Kharkov highway: there is a victim, 14 wounded

Russian Military Assessment:

  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military
  • Russian Military position on incident
    Not yet assessed

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1 – 5
  • (2 women3 men)
  • Civilians reported injured
    14
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Fair
    Reported by two or more credible sources, with likely or confirmed near actions by a belligerent.
  • Suspected belligerent
    Russian Military

Sources (14) [ collapse]