Russia has demanded that the UN OHCHR publicly condemn the terrorist attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Khorlakh

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and his entire body should publicly condemn the terrorist attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which was committed on New Year's Eve in Khorly, Kherson region. This was announced on Thursday, January 1, by Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

"We demand from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and his Office (OHCHR), as well as from the relevant special procedures of the HRC (Human Rights Council. — Ed.) to publicly condemn the monstrous terrorist attack of the Kiev regime in the Kherson region as soon as possible," he said in a statement posted on the permanent mission's website.

Gatilov clarified that silencing the tragedy would be tantamount to blatant complicity and open complicity in crimes committed by the Ukrainian side.

In addition, the Russian permanent representative expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) carried out a targeted attack on a cafe and hotel in Khorly, Kherson region, on the night of December 31, 2025, to January 1, 2026. The governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo, said that 24 people died as a result of the tragedy, and over 50 were injured.

New Year's Eve strike: 24 people died in Kherson region after UAV attack

Another 50 people were injured, 6 of them are in serious condition.

On January 1, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist act"). On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin heard a report from Baldo on the situation in connection with the Ukrainian Armed Forces strike and on the course of investigative actions, and later agreed that the crime was similar to the burning of people in Odessa on May 2, 2014.

On January 1, the administration of the Kherson region published the first list of those killed in the tragedy. It included three men (born in 1970, 1977 and 1983), three women (born in 1959, 1995 and 1999) and one girl born in 2008. In the evening of the same day, activists of volunteer movements and residents of the Zaporizhia region lit candles in memory of those killed in this terrorist attack.

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