Death toll from Hroza missile strike rises to 59, Ukraine says

FILE PHOTO: Family and relatives attend the funeral of Iryna Kharbaka and Oleksandr Khodak who were killed in a Russian missile attack, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, at the village cemetery, in the village of Hroza, near Kharkiv, Ukraine October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

KYIV (Reuters) - The death toll from a missile strike on the village of Hroza in northeastern Ukraine has risen to 59 after police finished identifying the victims, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Thursday.

Ukraine said a Russian missile hit a cafe in the village in the Kharkiv region last week as people gathered to mourn a fallen Ukrainian soldier. Moscow denies targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion, a position it repeated in response to a question at a Kremlin briefing about the strike on Hroza.