Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RUK064

Incident date

March 17, 2022

Location

Золочів, Zolochiv, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Geolocation

50.273048, 35.977971 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Town level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Alleged Russian shelling attacks on the village of Zolochiv in Kharkiv killed a woman and wounded two others, including a child, on March 17, 2022.

The village of Zolochiv endured heavy shelling, allegedly from Russian forces on March 17th. In the midst of the bombing, a 44 year old mother covered her four year daughter. While the daughter was wounded, her mother was killed. The girl’s father was also wounded. Twitter users @KHARKIV_RULIT, @EmineDzheppar, and @f_o_r_Ukraine provided images of the wounded girl and her home post-shelling.

A more detailed account was posted by the Kharkiv Times at Times.kharkiv.ua. The report included a description of the strike provided by Viktor Kovalenko to Suspilne Media: “The shell came when she and her child were sleeping in the house by the window. The woman covered her 4-year-old daughter with her body, but she herself did not survive. The child has a leg injury. There was also a man there – he also had an injury. The doctors rendered assistance to the injured in the hospital – they pulled out the fragments, made bandages. Their house is partially destroyed.”

Kovalenko was described as “the head of the community” in the report.  Kovalenko also noted that the alleged Russian artillery began shelling the village around 2 am and continued until roughly 4 am. There were about 15 explosions in total. Seven private houses, electricity and gas networks were damaged.

In a story posted by Objectiv.tv, the forty-four year old mother shielded her daughter from death and lost her life in the process. The article went on to say that, “a pre-trial investigation has been launched into violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (part 2 of article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).” This description of an impending investigation was corroborated by a Facebook post from Prokuratura Kharkiv.

This assessment has reference to ACLED code UKR53712.

The local time of the incident is unknown.

Geolocation notes

Reports of the incident mention the village of Zolochiv (Золочів), for which the generic coordinates are: 50.273048, 35.977971. 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 infrastructure
    Gas facility, Power Station
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (19) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (7) [ collapse]

  • Damage caused by alleged Russian shelling of the village of Zolochiv on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by @EmineDzheppar)
  • Damage caused by alleged Russian shelling of the village of Zolochiv on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by @EmineDzheppar)
  • Damage caused by alleged Russian shelling of the village of Zolochiv on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by @EmineDzheppar)
  • Damage caused by alleged Russian shelling of the village of Zolochiv on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by Objectiv TV)
  • Damage caused by alleged Russian shelling of the village of Zolochiv on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by Objectiv TV)
  • Screenshot of post by GX on Facebook
  • Screenshot of Facebook post by Prokuratura Kharkiv

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Likely strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian infrastructure
    Gas facility, Power Station
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    1
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • 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 (19) [ collapse]