At least 24 people were killed and more than 50 others injured in a drone strike in Kherson Region, according to the governor

The press-service of the governor of Russia's Kherson Region has published gruesome images of the aftermath of a deadly Ukrainian attack on civilians celebrating New Year's Eve in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly.

At least 24 people were killed and more than 50 others injured in the UAV strike on a cafe and hotel shortly after midnight, Governor Vladimir Saldo said in a post on Telegram earlier on Thursday. Three UAVs, one of which allegedly carried an incendiary mixture, hit the crowded venue, triggering a massive blaze, he said.

Graphic photos from the scene showed total destruction and the subsequent fire, with heavily burnt bodies scattered throughout the rubble.

The governor said the attack in Khorly could only be compared to the May 2014 Odessa massacre. At the time, Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who supported the then recent Western-backed coup in Kiev chased 42 anti-government protesters into the city's Trade Unions House before setting the building on fire and burning all of them alive.

Kherson Region, together with Zaporozhye Region and the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, joined Russia in the fall of 2022 following local referendums.

The raid follows a failed drone attack by Kiev on Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence in Novgorod Region on December 28-29, which Moscow's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, condemned as an act of "state terrorism."

READ MORE: Two dozen killed in Ukrainian strike on Russian New Year's celebration - governor

The Kremlin stressed that the raid was aimed not only against Putin, but also "against [US] President [Donald] Trump's efforts to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict."