The Russian embassy in Colombia has assessed the events that occurred on Wednesday in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, close to the front, in which a Russian precision missile fell on a pizzeria frequented by the military and journalists, killing 12 people and injuring them to varying degrees. to 60, among them the journalist collaborating with La Vanguardia Catalina Gómez, the writer Héctor Abad and the politician Sergio Jaramillo, all Colombians. "It is not an appropriate place to taste Ukrainian cuisine," considered the diplomatic legation of Moscow.
Gómez, Abad and Jaramillo were having dinner at the popular establishment with the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who was seriously injured in the skull by a splinter from the missile. Despite being at the same table, they were slightly injured.
"Of course we are happy that for the slightly injured Colombian citizens that reckless trip has not turned into an irreparable tragedy. We insist that the representatives of the friendly Colombian people refrain from visiting territories and places of warfare," the Russian embassy said. on his Twitter account.
"Such as from the center of the earth came a roar that I had never felt in my life, as if from below although I later found out it was coming from above, it was a precision missile that hit exactly in the middle of the roof of the pizzeria, it knocked me to the ground as if I had been struck by lightning," Abad explained to La Vanguardia. "I looked at Victoria," the writer recounted, "and supposedly she was perfect, sitting upright, leaning on the chair, she was not limp, just with her head slightly tilted back, but she was pale as paper and with her eyes closed. Catalina and Sergio began to yell at her and she did not react, completely still, she had no blood, it was as if death had come from within, without touching her".
Ukraine has detained a man suspected of treason for helping Russia attack the restaurant. The Prosecutor General's Office said Thursday that an employee of a local gas transportation company helped Moscow attack the restaurant by filming cars with military license plates in its parking lot and sending the footage to Russian special services. "Anyone who helps Russian terrorists destroy lives deserves the maximum punishment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his late-night video on Wednesday.
The prosecution reported in a statement that the alleged suspect had been informed that he was suspected of committing treason, a crime that carries a possible life sentence. No mention was made of his name, nor was it stated how he had responded to the accusation.
The regional governor, Pavlo Kirilenko, declared that the rescue operations had been suspended and urged the population to move to safer areas. Among the 12 dead are a victim whose body was pulled from the rubble early Thursday and three children. Among the deceased are two 14-year-old twin sisters.
When asked about the attack on Kramatorsk, the Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia had only struck military targets, not civilians. The Russian Defense Ministry later stated that a temporary command post of the Ukrainian army had been attacked in Kramatorsk.
Kramatorsk lies to the west of the front lines in the Donetsk province and would be a likely target in any westward Russian advance.
