E fundit!

11:31 TODAY

Three decades in the police/ Who is the new director expected to take command of Tirana?

Adriatik Tafçiu, ranked first in the evaluation process fo...

Moscow accuses it of attacking a hotel/ Ukraine denies targeting civilians

2026-01-02 15:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Ukrainian military said on January 2 that it only strikes "military targets," a day after Russia accused Kiev of using drones to attack a hotel and a cafe in occupied southern Ukraine, killing 27 people.

Russian-installed authorities in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine, said those killed were celebrating New Year's Eve, and two children were among the victims, describing the incident as a "terrorist act."

The hotel, which Moscow says was the target of the attack, is located in Horli, a Black Sea town that the Russian military has occupied since early 2022.

The regional governor, installed by Russia, Vladimir Saldo, released photos on Thursday that appeared to show the burned interior of a building, as well as charred bodies.

In his comments to AFP, Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy accused Russia of constantly using "disinformation and false statements."

"Ukrainian defense forces respect the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at enemy military targets ," he said.

Earlier on Friday, Ukraine's intelligence service said Russia was attempting to orchestrate "a large-scale provocation with human casualties," without providing any evidence for the claim.

The accusations come at a crucial moment in the nearly four-year conflict, the bloodiest in Europe since the Second World War.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year's address that a peace deal brokered by the United States was "90 percent" ready, but territorial issues remain unresolved.

Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since then, Moscow has occupied large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, while attacking Ukrainian cities and villages every day with drones and missiles, also causing civilian deaths. /REL