At least 23 people, including three children, were killed when Russian missiles targeted Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Thursday (July 14), in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to as "an open act of terrorism."
As EU officials gathered in The Hague to consider war crimes in Ukraine, the city was attacked at noon by Russian troops invading from hundreds of kilometers away.
Images released by authorities showed a shop that had been completely destroyed by fire adjacent to the burned-out wreckage of upturned cars surrounded by burnt debris and billowing brown smoke.
In his daily address to the country late on Thursday, Zelenskyy confirmed the death toll and predicted an increase because there are still dozens unaccounted for and numerous people hospitalized in severe condition.
"No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia," a somber Zelenskyy said. "No other state in the world allows itself to destroy peaceful cities and ordinary human life with cruise missiles and rocket artillery on a daily basis."
The attack left Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "appalled," while the EU condemned it as an "atrocity." Both demanded accountability.
After observing a moment of quiet, Zelenskyy urged the European Union and the International Criminal Court to convene a "special tribunal" to look into Russia's invasion.
"I believe it is inevitable that International Criminal Court will bring accountability to those guilty of crimes under its jurisdiction: War crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide."
Just days after Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague launched an investigation into potential war crimes there and sent hundreds of investigators there to gather proof.
Russia invaded on Feb 24 and the conflict has seen thousands of people killed, destroyed cities, and forced millions to flee their homes.
"Every day, Russia kills civilians, kills Ukrainian children, carries out missile attacks on the civilian facilities where there is no military target. What is this, if not an open act of terrorism?" Zelenskyy said after the Vinnytsia attack.
A cruise missile barrage launched from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea that severely damaged Vinnytsia was stopped by Ukrainian forces, according to a military spokesman.
The battle has raged around places like Mykolaiv in the south, which the administration said was attacked by a "massive missile strike," despite the fact that deadly attacks in the country's center have become comparatively rare.
"Two schools, transport infrastructure, and a hotel were damaged," the president said during its morning military update Thursday.
