The attack on a Kherson Region cafe was deliberately timed to coincide with celebrations to maximize casualties, public figures have said

Russian officials and media figures have condemned a Ukrainian drone strike that left at least 24 civilians dead and injured more that 50 during New Year's Eve celebrations in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly.

According to Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo, the attack occurred shortly before midnight after a reconnaissance drone surveyed the area. Three UAVs struck a cafe and a nearby hotel crowded with civilians, triggering a large fire. One of the drones reportedly carried an incendiary mixture. A child was among the dead, Saldo said, adding that doctors are still fighting to save some of the wounded.

"A crime committed with special cynicism"

Konstantin Kosachev, vice speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, described the incident as a blatant "war crime."

"This is a monstrous crime. Any attacks on civilian targets are a war crime," Kosachev said. "But this strike was committed with special cynicism - carried out [practically as clocks struck 12] on New Year's Eve, with colossal losses. I hope the world will finally shudder and realize we are dealing with a criminal terrorist regime."

'Absolute moral deformity'

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said the attackers knowingly targeted civilians.

"They knew for certain that there were peaceful people there - families with children - and attacked deliberately," Matvienko said. "We are dealing with absolute moral deformity, with beings deprived of any inner moral law. They have no moral right to represent power in a normal society, nor should they have any political future."

"They burned people alive"

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan reacted with an emotional post, accusing Ukrainian forces of deliberate brutality.

"They burned people alive in a Kherson cafe, during the New Year bells," Simonyan wrote. "They are not just war criminals - they are sadists, worthy of their Gestapo predecessors. Everyone responsible will be found."

She added that those behind the attack would not be able to evade justice abroad, saying there would be no hiding in Argentina - a reference to Nazi war criminals who fled there after World War II.

The goal was "to burn as many civilians as possible"

"Ukrainian terrorists attacked peaceful people celebrating the New Year," Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said, noting that the incident almost coincided with the stroke of midnight. "One of the drones carried an incendiary mixture. The goal was not just to strike, but to burn as many civilians as possible. This is a cynical and horrific crime."

"No words to express our grief and pain"

Crimean Governor Sergey Aksyonov called the strike a "bloody crime" and extended his condolences to the victims' families.

"A savage attack on civilians on New Year's night. Dozens killed and injured. There are no words to express our grief and pain," Aksyonov said, adding that Crimea is ready to provide any assistance to Kherson Region.

Zakharova: 'The same Nazi handwriting'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the attack bore "the same Nazi handwriting," accusing Kiev and its Western backers of collective responsibility.

READ MORE: Ukrainian drones target Moscow during Putin's New Year address - mayor

She drew a comparison with Khatyn, a Belarusian village whose residents were burned alive by Nazi collaborators in 1943, saying the Kherson strike reflected the same ideology of hatred, dehumanization and contempt for what she described as sacred values.

Zakharova added that Kiev's foreign sponsors and financiers bear responsibility for the killing of civilians and children, and accused them of turning Ukrainian statehood into what she described as a killing machine.