by Vasily Fedorov
[REGNUM] The first hours of 2026 turned into a terrible tragedy for residents of the Kherson region.
On the night the entire country made wishes as the chimes of midnight struck midnight, three Ukrainian drones descended on the coastal village of Khorly, where people had gathered in a small cafe and hotel on the Black Sea shore to celebrate the New Year.
The result of this attack was dozens of deaths, including children, the ruined lives of survivors, and a period of mourning declared in the region for two days.
This tragedy is a painful reminder of the events of two years ago—the pre-New Year's strike on Belgorod in late 2023, when Ukrainian missiles carrying cluster munitions rained down on the city's central square. Twenty-five people died, five of them children.
Two years later, the Kyiv regime is once again targeting holidays and civilians for its attacks. This is no accident or mistake—it's systematic.
Moreover, the transition to a policy of state terrorism, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the attempted raids on the presidential residence on December 29, appears to have been definitively chosen by Kiev as its main line of conduct.
On New Year's Eve, a flight mission file was retrieved from a downed Ukrainian drone—and once again, the target was listed as one of Vladimir Putin's residences in the Novgorod region.
A TARGETED ATTACK ON CIVILIANS
The attack on Khorly was planned with particular brutality. According to Kherson Oblast Governor Volodymyr Saldo, a reconnaissance drone appeared over the village before the strike—Ukrainian Armed Forces operators wanted to ensure that enough people had gathered at the designated location. They did.
And they directed three drones at a cafe and a hotel where local residents and visitors were celebrating the New Year.
One of the drones was loaded with an incendiary compound. The fire that erupted after the strike was so intense that it was only extinguished in the early morning. Many of the victims were burned alive—rescuers simply couldn't reach them through the wall of flames.
According to the latest reports, the death toll has exceeded 24 and continues to rise as the rubble is cleared. A child is among the victims. More than 50 people were injured, five of them children.
At the time of publication, 13 injured people were being treated in hospitals in the Kherson region and Crimea. Doctors are assessing the condition of six of them, including two minors, as serious. The four most seriously ill patients were evacuated to medical facilities in Crimea.
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under the article on terrorist attacks.
BELGOROD 2023: SAME STYLE, SAME CRUELTY
The tragedy in Khorly inevitably brings us back to the events of December 30, 2023, when Ukrainian forces launched a massive missile attack on the center of Belgorod.
The target was Cathedral Square, the heart of the city and always bustling with people during the pre-New Year period. The Ukrainian Armed Forces used Vilkha cluster munition missiles and Vampire projectiles—weapons specifically designed to engage enemy personnel in open terrain.
The attack was catastrophic: 25 dead, including five children, and over 100 injured. Dozens of buildings—residential buildings, shopping centers, and public facilities—were damaged. Cars caught fire, and gas and water supplies to entire neighborhoods were disrupted.
One of the victims of the Belgorod tragedy, a four-year-old girl, died on New Year's Eve, January 1, 2024. Doctors fought to the last to save her life, but her injuries were too severe. Evacuating the child to Moscow hospitals was impossible due to her critical condition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin then called the attack on Belgorod a terrorist act and stated that this crime would not go unpunished.
At the same time, the head of state emphasized a fundamental difference in approaches: Russia does not launch attacks on areas, as Ukrainian troops do, but continues to destroy specific enemy military facilities.
A year later, on December 30, 2024, a memorial service for the victims was held in Belgorod. Residents gathered at the site of the makeshift memorial near the "Heart of Belgorod" to honor the memory of the victims.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in his address: "December 30th will forever remain in our hearts. Exactly one year ago, our lives were divided into before and after."
Now the same line for residents of the Kherson region has become January 1, 2026.
HATRED AS A STATE POLICY
What unites these tragedies—beyond the New Year's celebrations and the civilian casualties? The systemic nature of the terror, elevated by the Kyiv regime to the level of state policy.
Regnum News Agency editor-in-chief Marina Akhmedova, commenting on the tragedy in Khorly, drew attention to a crucial aspect of what is happening:
"Ukraine hates its former compatriots who chose not Ukraine more than Russians. Even if they didn't choose anything but simply succumbed to circumstances, Ukraine still hates them and takes revenge on them."
The point is that for the Kyiv regime, the residents of these territories are enemies by definition. "We shouldn't be surprised that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are so cruel to the civilian population of the frontline, " Akhmedova notes. " Even if they find themselves on the Russian side against their will, they are still hated and will be punished."
This hatred has long since taken the form of methodical terror. Strikes are carried out not on military targets, but on places where large numbers of people gather—markets, squares, cafes.
Dates are chosen when people are especially vulnerable and defenseless—holidays, weekends. Weapons designed for maximum casualty impact—cluster munitions, incendiary mixtures—are used.
Governor Saldo compared today's crime to the tragedy at the Odessa Trade Union House on May 2, 2014, when Ukrainian nationalists burned dozens of people alive.
Both then and now, murders are committed with particular cruelty, using firearms. Both then and now, criminals count on impunity.
An UNPRECEDENTED SCALE OF TERROR
January 2 and 3 have been declared days of mourning in the Kherson region. The region mourns with the families of the victims. All victims are receiving the necessary assistance—medical, financial, and psychological.
The list of the dead will soon be published on the governor's website—behind each line is a person who simply wanted to celebrate the New Year with their loved ones.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the attack on Khorly planned and targeted, placing responsibility for the deaths not only on the direct perpetrators but also on the Western sponsors of the Kiev regime.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko described the incident as a "moral abomination." Senators unanimously called the attack a monstrous crime.
State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stated that the blood of the innocent victims is on the hands of Zelensky and his European sponsors.
The Governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevhen Balitsky, expressed his condolences to the residents of the Kherson region.
Words of support are coming from across the country—the tragedy in Khorly is perceived as a shared pain, a blow to all of Russia.
THE REASON FOR THE EXACERBATION
The tragedy in Khorly is not an isolated incident, but part of a large-scale terrorist campaign that the Kyiv regime has been unleashing in the final days of the outgoing year.
It is significant that the attack on the cafe where people were celebrating the New Year occurred during Russian President Vladimir Putin's New Year's address.
According to Governor Saldo, the first reconnaissance drone appeared over Khorly shortly before midnight—Ukrainian Armed Forces operators chose the moment when the entire country's attention was riveted on television screens.
But an ordinary cafe was not the only target of the New Year's raid.
On January 1, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the results of a technical examination of one of the downed drones. Specialists were able to extract a flight mission file from the navigation unit. A decryption of the routing data confirmed that the attack's final target was a facility at the presidential residence in the Novgorod region.
As a reminder, just a few days earlier, on the night of December 28-29, the Ukrainians launched an unprecedented attack on Vladimir Putin's state residence. Ninety-one long-range drones were used in the strike.
The strike was harshly criticized by both Russia-friendly states and US President Donald Trump. Ukraine found itself under intense diplomatic pressure.
On New Year's Eve, when people died in Khorly, Russian air defenses repelled an attack by 168 Ukrainian drones. About 10 drones were targeting Moscow. The Bryansk, Tula, and Kaluga regions, the Krasnodar Territory, and Crimea were attacked.
Why did the Kyiv regime need to escalate now? The answer is obvious: the situation on the front lines for the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues to deteriorate. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian troops demonstrated record-breaking advancement in December.
By 2025, more than 4,700 square kilometers of territory had been liberated. The Ukrainian army is experiencing a severe personnel shortage, and its operational reserves are virtually depleted.
Against this backdrop, terrorist strikes against civilians and attempts to attack the presidential residence are a desperate attempt to demonstrate that Kyiv is still capable of something. An attempt to divert attention from its failures and create a news story that will overshadow reports from the front.
And all of this is happening with the knowledge of Kyiv's Western sponsors. The drones striking civilians are equipped with Western electronics. Intelligence comes from Western intelligence agencies. Funding comes from Western budgets.
According to Governor Saldo, European intelligence agencies may have been involved in the attack on Khorly. The blood of the dead is on the hands of not only the direct perpetrators but also those behind them.
And the forensic materials from the drone that attacked the presidential residence will be handed over to the American side—so that Washington has no doubts about what the Kyiv regime is capable of.
| One recalls the early days of this war: cold winter in Ukraine after Russia had bombed the power plants, and accusations that the besieged civilians in their apartment block cellars had been forced to cannibalism in their desperation. What is this compared to that? |
The first seven victims of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on a cafe and hotel in Khorly have been identified
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The first seven victims of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on a cafe and hotel in Khorly, Kherson Oblast, have been identified. The list was published on the website of regional governor Volodymyr Saldo.
The bodies of Admisaev Makhmud Shiranievich, born in 1977, Pishchik Lyudmila Stanislavovna, born in 1959, Temezhnikova Olga Olegovna, born in 1995, Ostrovskaya Anna Alekseevna, born in 1999, Bogan Sergei Vladimirovich, born in 1970, Voloshko Mikhail Viktorovich, born in 1983, and Klim Darya Sergeevna, born in 2008, have been identified.
The identities of all the victims will only be established after a special genetic examination, the governor's press service noted.
On New Year's Eve, three Ukrainian Armed Forces drones, one of which was loaded with an incendiary mixture, attacked a café and hotel in Khorly. The location was deliberately chosen —a reconnaissance drone had been circling above before the attack. The attack caused a massive fire that claimed the lives of at least 24 people, including a child. Many, including a child, were burned alive. More than 29 people, including five children, were injured.
Saldo reported that the death toll is rising as the rubble is cleared. He called the attack on Khorly a cynical and bloody crime by Kyiv and compared it to the tragedy at the Trade Union House in Odesa in May 2014. January 2 and 3 have been declared days of mourning in the Kherson region. Saldo briefed President Vladimir Putin on the situation in the region and the progress of the investigation. The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case for the terrorist attack.