A “brutally savage” Russian airstrike killed at least 24 people as they waited in line to collect their monthly pensions in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Video of the moments after the strike obtained by The Post showed still-smoking bodies splayed around a massive crater caused by the Russian glide bomb that had killed them.
“A brutally savage Russian airstrike with an aerial bomb on the rural settlement of Yarova in the Donetsk region. Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“There are no words.”
The glide bomb hit the Donetsk region settlement of fewer than 2,000 people at about 11 a.m. local time as scores waited in the open air for their fixed-income payments – leaving at least 19 others injured, the Ukraine Emergency Service said.
“The picture was horrific — the whole village is on fire,” said Pavlo Diachenko, head of communications for the Donetsk regional police.
“Private houses were burning, and people tried to put out the flames with their own hands. There were many drones overhead.”
Yarova is part of the roughly 30% of Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russia has been unable to occupy despite more than a decade of constant conflict.
The glide bomb struck the village fewer than four miles from Russian-occupied territory with almost no warning.
While Ukraine regularly alerts citizens of incoming attacks, allowing them to get to shelter, communities closest to the front are sometimes struck before Kyiv’s air-alert system can detect the super-fast glide bombs and sound alarms.
The timing of the attack made the strike particularly savage, Ukrainian officials said, as victims were milling about outdoors instead of home in their beds.
The victims appeared to have been taken by surprise, with some bodies found still straddling bicycles.
In the videos obtained by The Post, stomach-churning screams of women sobbing can be heard as rescue workers bag up bodies for transport to the local morgue.
“It was beyond words,” said Yarova resident Hennadii Trush, whose wife was among those killed.
“Before, strikes landed on the outskirts. This time it was right in the center of the village.”
Some of the victims were still being identified using DNA late Tuesday, authorities said.
In the wake of the latest attack, Zelensky urged the US and other allies to make Russia pay economically for its full-scale invasion.
“Such Russian strikes must not be left without an appropriate response from the world. The Russians continue destroying lives while avoiding new strong sanctions and new strong blows,” he said.
“The world must not remain silent. The world must not remain idle. A response is needed from the United States. A response is needed from Europe. A response is needed from the G20. Strong actions are needed to make Russia stop bringing death.”
Russia has stepped up its aerial barrages on Ukraine in recent weeks — just as US-led peace efforts have failed to make headway.
With Post wires
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