Civilian Casualties

Civilian Casualties

Incident Code

RUK063

Incident date

March 17, 2022

Location

Козача Лопань, Kozacha Lopan, Kharkiv, Ukraine

Geolocation

50.336013, 36.193996 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Additional Geolocations

50.334438, 36.190772 Note: The accuracy of this location is to Exact location (via Airwars) level. Continue to map

Airwars assessment

Between four and six civilians, including an elderly woman, were killed and at least two others, including a child, were wounded by alleged Russian or Ukrainian shelling of Kozacha Lopan in Kharkiv on March 17, 2022.

The head of the Dergachev community Vyacheslav Zadorenko announced on Facebook that Russian forces used cluster bombs and “as a result, at least six people were killed, data on the number of injured are being investigated. The invaders bombed the railway station, shops, pharmacies and other civilian buildings in the center of the village. At the same time, the military infrastructure that the invaders placed in Kazachya, as well as the Russian military, were not damaged.” Various local sources quoted Zadorenko and provided similar information.

Russian sources including Russian state-run RIA Novosti attributed the bombing to Ukrainian forces, accusing Ukraine of bombing “civilian objects, including at the point of issue of humanitarian aid,” resulting in the death of four civilians and the injury of at least two others. Quoting a “representative of the local provisional administration,” the Russian source reported that the shelling occurred around noon and involved 52 mm artillery guns. Discussing the victims, a local resident told RIA that a teenage girl was wounded when she was “returning home with their grandmother with food products. The grandmother was killed on the spot, the girl’s leg was torn off.”

This assessment corresponds to ACLED code UKR53666.

The incident occured at approximately 12:00 pm local time.

Geolocation notes (4) [ collapse]

Reports of the incident mention strikes in multiple locations in the town of Kozacha Lopan (Козача Лопань). Analysing audiovisual material from sources, we have narrowed these locations down to the following coordinates: 50.336013, 36.193996; 50.334438, 36.190772.

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  • Tagged visual material from sources

    Imagery:
    Zvezda

  • Tagged visual material from sources

    Imagery:
    Zvezda

  • Tagged visual material from sources

    Imagery:
    First Kharkov

  • Tagged visual material from sources

    Imagery:
    First Kharkov

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 6
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Ukrainian Military

Sources (29) [ collapse]

Media
from sources (12) [ collapse]

  • Damage caused by alleged Russian bombing of Kozacha Lopan on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by Slovoidilo)
  • Screenshot of Facebook post by Zadorenko
  • Damage from an alleged Russian cluster bomb on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by @TRTRussian)
  • Screenshot of Facebook post by Tatyana Radchuk
  • The armed forces of Ukraine from heavy guns fired at the border village of Kazachya Lopan, Kharkiv region. They beat exclusively on civilian objects, including at the point of issue of humanitarian aid. At that moment, another batch of food and basic necessities was distributed to people. As a result, four civilians were killed and several others were injured.
  • In the LNR reported 4 dead after the shelling of the village in the Kharkiv region by the Armed Forces of Ukraine As reported in the Luhansk People's Republic, in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian soldiers fired on the village of Cossack Lopan from heavy guns. According to preliminary information, the shelling lasted about half an hour, and in total about forty shells were fired from the MSTA. As a result of the shelling, four people were killed, and more than two were injured. “The first shells fell around noon, it was at this time that almost the entire village (and this is at least a thousand people) received Russian humanitarian aid. Also, blows were delivered to the area of the village council and the local school. There were also people there and received humanitarian aid,” the LPR noted. The victims were evacuated to the Russian Federation for medical assistance. Among the wounded civilians was a 12-year-old girl, she was caught on the street with her grandmother when they were returning to their home with food products. An elderly woman died on the spot, and the girl was seriously injured, the LPR reported. Some residents managed to leave their homes when everything calmed down. They traveled on foot to the Russian border to take cover from shelling.
  • Damage caused by shelling of Cossack Lopan on March 17, 2022. (Image posted by Rossaprimavera.ru)
  • Ukrainian security forces shelled the recently liberated village of Kozachya Lopan in Kharkiv region. According to the RIA Novosti news agency, the first shells fell around noon. It was at this time that at least a thousand people gathered in the square to receive Russian humanitarian aid. According to preliminary information, four people were killed and at least two wounded. The victims, including a 12-year-old girl, were evacuated to Russia.
  • Kozachya Lopan was shelled with heavy weapons during the distribution of humanitarian aid Ukrainian militants shelled the village of Kozachya Lopan in Kharkiv region with heavy guns. The settlement is under the control of the Russian army. They organized a distribution of humanitarian aid there, and when hundreds of people arrived, the neo-Nazis opened fire on them. There were fatalities and injuries.

Russian Military Assessment:

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

Ukrainian Military Assessment:

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

Summary

  • Strike status
    Contested strike
  • Strike type
    Artillery
  • Civilian harm reported
    Yes
  • Civilians reported killed
    4 – 6
  • (1 woman)
  • Civilians reported injured
    2
  • Cause of injury / death
    Heavy weapons and explosive munitions
  • Airwars civilian harm grading
    Contested
    Competing claims of responsibility e.g. multiple belligerents, or casualties also attributed to ground forces.
  • Suspected belligerents
    Russian Military, Ukrainian Military

Sources (29) [ collapse]