- July 30, 2026
- 2:10 pm
- Ukraine
On the night of July 30, 2026, a Russian ballistic missile struck the village of Radushne in the Novopolska community on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih. It hit directly a private house where the Voronov family with many children lived.
It was not a military facility, not a command post, and not a fortified position. It was an ordinary house where parents, children, and a small grandson were present at night.
As of midday, the discovery of the bodies of 6 deceased was officially confirmed, including 3 children — a six-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy, and a 17-year-old boy. Five more people were considered missing, and the identification of the found body fragments was to be conducted using genetic expertise. As a result of the strike, eight people were injured.
The Russian missile completely destroyed two private houses and damaged five more. Fires broke out at the site. Rescuers continued to clear the debris, understanding that people might be under them.
Artem, Elena, and the children who were deprived of a future
Local authorities reported that 47-year-old Artem Voronov and his 41-year-old wife Elena lived in the destroyed house. The Novopolska village council stated that the bodies of the spouses and four of their children had already been retrieved from the rubble. At the same time, central and regional authorities officially reported three confirmed deceased children, so the final number of victims still required clarification and identification.
The local channel ‘First City. Kryvyi Rih’ published the names of the children and grandson of the family who were in the house. Among those whose bodies had already been found or who continued to be searched for under the debris were:
Mark, who was almost 18 years old; Dominika, 16 years old; Viorika, 14 years old; Zachary, 13 years old; Azary-Ilay, 11 years old; Federica, nine years old; Emilia, seven years old, and also a one-and-a-half-year-old grandson Artem.
These names are important to mention. Behind the phrases ‘six deceased’, ‘three children’, or ‘several missing’ are specific people.
Mark did not live to see his eighteenth birthday. Dominika did not finish school. Seven-year-old Emilia and nine-year-old Federica will never wake up in their room again. One-and-a-half-year-old Artem had barely begun to explore the world around him.
They were not killed by an abstract ‘war’. The missile was manufactured, supplied to the Russian army, delivered to the launch position, received a flight mission, and was launched by Russian servicemen over Ukrainian territory.
Behind each such attack is a chain of decisions — from the political leadership of Russia and military command to the unit that executes the order.
A ballistic missile against a private house
According to the head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council, Oleksandr Vilkul, a ballistic missile ‘Iskander-M’ was used against Radushne. It hit directly the house of the family with many children.
Ballistic missiles fly at tremendous speed, and the time between the alarm announcement and the strike can be measured in minutes. During the massive attack on July 30, Ukrainian air defense intercepted 55 missiles and 265 drones, but of the nine ballistic missiles launched by Russia, only one was shot down.
This means that the Russian command perfectly understands the consequences of using ballistics against populated areas. It knows that people may not have time to reach shelter. It knows that the impact of a heavy missile on a private house practically leaves no chance for those inside.
Despite this, Putin’s army continues to launch such missiles at Ukrainian cities and towns.
Not a separate tragedy, but part of a system
The strike on the Voronov family occurred during another massive Russian attack. On the night of July 30, Russia launched more than 70 missiles and about 280 strike drones at Ukraine. Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and other regions were under attack.
In Kyiv, one person died. In Lviv, a Russian missile hit a residential high-rise building, dozens of people were injured, including children. Across Ukraine, in the first hours after the attack, at least eight civilians were reported dead and more than 50 injured.
The Russian Ministry of Defense habitually claimed that the Russian army allegedly struck military enterprises, airfields, and logistics facilities. However, these statements do not explain the destroyed Voronov family house, the deceased children, the damaged kindergartens, schools, and residential high-rises. Independent confirmation of Russian claims of exclusively military targets being hit was not presented.
NANews — News of Israel considers it fundamentally important not to accept the language of Russian military propaganda, in which killed children turn into ‘collateral damage’, and a destroyed residential house disappears behind words about ‘military-industrial complex objects’.
When a missile hits a house where a family with many children is sleeping, the main fact remains not the report of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The main fact is the dead children under the rubble.
The number of civilian casualties continues to grow
The tragedy in Radushne fits into the overall picture recorded by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
In the first six months of 2026 alone, the UN confirmed the deaths of 1,396 civilians and injuries to 7,978 people. This is 37% more than in the same period of 2025 and more than double the figure for the first six months of 2024.
The main reason for the increase in civilian casualties was Russian long-range missile and drone strikes on cities far from the front line. The number of dead and injured from such weapons in the first half of 2026 increased by 60% compared to the same period in 2025.
Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the UN has confirmed the deaths of at least 16,431 civilians, including 803 children. Another 48,613 civilians were injured, including 2,960 children. The actual number of victims may be significantly higher, as the UN includes only independently verified cases in the statistics.
These data refute attempts to present hits on residential buildings as rare ‘mistakes’. It is about a constantly recurring pattern: Russia launches hundreds of missiles and drones, some of which hit densely populated areas, after which Moscow declares everything destroyed as a ‘military target’.
Why the strike should be investigated as a possible war crime
International humanitarian law requires distinguishing between military and civilian objects. Attacks can only be directed against legitimate military targets.
Strikes directly on civilians and civilian objects are prohibited. Indiscriminate attacks, as well as strikes where the expected harm to civilians is disproportionate to the specific and immediate military advantage, are prohibited. The party conducting the attack is obliged to verify the target and take all possible measures to minimize civilian casualties.
Deliberately directing an attack against a civilian object that is not a military target is considered a war crime by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. A strike that is carried out with the knowledge that it will cause clearly excessive civilian casualties can also be a war crime.
The final legal qualification of a specific strike should be given by investigators and the court. They need to establish the coordinates embedded in the missile, the intended target, Russian intelligence data, the type of warhead, the unit that carried out the launch, and the commanders who gave the order.
But it is already clear: the impact of a ballistic missile on a private house, the death of parents and children — this is not just a ‘consequence of hostilities’. This event should be documented as a suspected war crime by the Russian army.
Responsibility does not start with the ordinary executor
Russian propaganda tries to present missile attacks as an impersonal technical process. But missiles do not choose targets on their own.
The decision on massive strikes is made at the level of Russian military-political leadership. The command determines the areas and objects of attacks. Intelligence structures prepare the data. Missile units receive the order and carry out the launch.
Therefore, responsibility should concern not only the specific crew that launched the missile. It should rise up the entire command chain — to the generals and political leadership of Putin’s Russia.
The International Criminal Court is already investigating crimes committed in Ukraine since November 2013. In the context of the Ukrainian situation, warrants have been issued, including those related to alleged strikes on civilian objects and causing excessive harm to the civilian population.
Every destroyed house should become part of the evidence base. It is necessary to preserve missile fragments, satellite data, messages from Russian units, phone conversations, information about the missile’s route, and the identities of the officers responsible for planning the operation.
Why this story should be heard in Israel
Residents of Israel do not need an explanation of what a missile alert in the middle of the night means, the attempt to reach shelter in time, and the fear for children.
That is why Israeli society should especially clearly understand what is happening in Ukraine. The Russian army uses ballistic and cruise missiles against cities, destroys homes, and kills entire families, after which it covers up what is happening with statements about fighting ‘military targets’.
Terror does not cease to be terror just because it is carried out by a state army. The state form, general ranks, and official reports do not make the killing of children more lawful.
NANews — News of Israel consistently calls the Russian aggression against Ukraine a war unleashed by the Putin regime. The Russian armed forces, consciously continuing strikes that kill civilians and children, act by methods of state terror.
The Voronov house should become evidence
On July 31, Kryvyi Rih declared a day of mourning for those killed in Radushne.
But mourning alone is not enough.
It is necessary to establish the final number of deceased, identify each person, determine the Russian army unit that carried out the launch, and include the strike materials in Ukrainian and international criminal investigations.
The names of Artem, Elena, Mark, Dominika, Viorika, Zachary, Azary-Ilay, Federica, Emilia, and little Artem should not disappear in the daily military reports.
In Radushne, the Russian missile destroyed not an ‘object’. It destroyed a house where a large family lived.
This crime was not committed by an unknown force. It was committed by the army of the Russian Federation, executing the orders of the Putin regime. And responsibility for such strikes should be neither symbolic nor political, but personal and criminal.