The Russians claimed they were targeting a meeting of Ukrainian commanders and NATO “instructors” there, and that high-ranking NATO officers were killed.
According to this, “The soldier, who asked to be identified only by the call sign Alex, said there had been a banquet for 45 people at one of the restaurants when the strike occurred, and that it hit “right in the center of the cafe.”
Link:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/europe/kramatorsk-strike-ukraine-war-intl/index.html
Now, I’m not necessarily buying the Russian version, but the banquet sounds like there may well have been some important military commanders (perhaps including advisors from NATO countries) there at the time.
Add to this the Ukrainians arrested a local man they allege is a spy for tipping off the Russians:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66045197
Put two and two together and ...
Yes, civilians were killed. It is horrible. War is horrible.
If you listen to the video posted earlier by CapandBall at #9 (or read the captions) you can hear the South African merc saying “there are soldiers under this rubble, all over.” It’s the first video on this Tweet:
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1674023498904215555
We bombed hospitals, apartment buildings, etc. in Serbia in 1999. Some were oopsies. Our bombs and missiles killed civilians in other wars, too, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. Sadly, civilians get killed in wars.
This is a nasty war. Ukrainians have been shelling residential areas in the LDNR killing women and children since 2014 — about 14,000 killed inside the LDNR, around 10,000 of them civilians. The LDNR forces also shelled residential areas.
I am in no way justifying this strike or this war. Just adding perspective.