Russian drone strike on park in Ukraine's Nova Vodolaha kills six, including three children, regional governor says

As of 12:09 p.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

A Russian drone struck the central park in Nova Vodolaha in Ukraine's Kharkiv region while many people were there, including families with children, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said Monday, Oct. 19, attributing the details to Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi.

Six people were killed, including three children, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram at 11:22 a.m. ET. He said earlier that 15 people were injured, seven of them children, and that intensive-care teams were taking the wounded to hospitals in Kharkiv. The ministry had earlier said on X that two women and an infant who was in a stroller were killed and at least 14 people were injured, including seven children. (Translated from Ukrainian by GROKsiNEWS.com.)

Ukraine's State Emergency Service posted the ministry's earlier casualty figures on its Telegram channel, saying emergency crews were at the scene providing first aid and checking the area for explosive objects. (Translated from Ukrainian by GROKsiNEWS.com.)

"Yet another Russian strike against civilians. An attack on children that made no military sense whatsoever," Vyhivskyi said, according to an English-language report by Interfax-Ukraine that quoted his Telegram channel.

Kyiv Post reported the earlier toll in English, saying the park was crowded at the time of the attack and crediting photos to the State Emergency Service.

The casualty figures were reported by Ukrainian officials and may change. GROKsiNEWS.com could not independently verify them. Russia's Defense Ministry had not commented on its official X account as of 12:09 p.m. ET.