Who died in Kharlakh in occupied Kherson Oblast?

Photo: investigator.org.ua

On New Year's Eve, a drone attack occurred in the occupied resort village of Kharlakh, Kalanchak community, Skadovsk district, Kherson Oblast. The strike hit the Leo Hotel and the "Ukrainian Khata" (Ukrainian House) cafe. It was reported that the attack took place during the broadcast of Vladimir Putin's New Year's address. As a result of the attack, 29 people were killed, and more than 50 others sustained injuries of varying severity.

Following this event, the Center for Journalistic Investigations, citing its own sources and information from occupation public pages, published an article with details about what was happening in Kharlakh during the occupation and who might have been in the hotel and cafe on the night of the strike.

Journalists reported that the Leo Hotel and the "Ukrainian Khata" cafe, owned by local businesswoman Aksana Buhavanava, ceased operations after the start of the war on February 24, 2022. However, in the summer of 2022, the owner decided to resume business under occupation.

According to testimonies, when the cooks and workers started their jobs, they quickly realized that they would have to serve exclusively Russian military personnel, as they became the only clients in the occupied settlement. The workers refused to feed them and quit, after which Buhavanava sought other people for the work. The Center for Journalistic Investigations notes that among those who did agree to work could have been local residents, and it is these people who might have been among the casualties on the night of the attack.

The Leo Hotel had convenient access to the "Ukrainian Khata" cafe, which was advantageous for guests. According to investigation sources, Russian officers and their family members primarily stayed at this hotel.

Under occupation, Kharlakh effectively became a closed territory: Russians allowed only people with local registration into the village, and those with a special pass from the occupation administration could also enter unhindered. The investigation emphasizes that these opportunities were most often used by employees of the local occupation administration and people close to them.

Before the full-scale war, about 300 people lived permanently in Kharlakh. Most of the people with local registration ran seasonal businesses there – recreation centers, hotels, cafes, shops – and, as a rule, only came in the summer.

After the occupation, the Russians turned Kharlakh into their military base, and since 2022, according to investigation sources, only military personnel have lived in the hotel complexes.

After the attack, the occupation structures initially stated that only local civilians were killed during the strike. However, this caused doubts even among some Russian propagandists. As the authors of the investigation note, when the occupiers published the first list of seven names, it did not include a single resident of Kharlakh.

Among the identified individuals are the head of Kalanchak police Siarhei Bohan, two employees of the Kalanchak settlement community administration – Mikhail Valoshka and Anastasiya Sabitava.

The list also includes the name of Makhmud Admisaev, a native of Chechnya, who was previously wanted on suspicion of drug trafficking on a particularly large scale, as well as an unknown Serbian citizen.

According to the latest information from the occupation side, the owner of the cafe and hotel, Aksana Buhavanava herself, was also among the victims.

Павялічыць

Aksana Buhavanava. 2021. Screenshot from "Suspilne Kherson" video

Among the victims are also Natallia Sharko and her daughter Hanna Astroŭskaya. According to eyewitnesses, Sharko registered an agricultural enterprise, was engaged in retail flower trade, and, according to locals, organized a sauna in the village of Novokiyivka, for which she hired girls to entertain the occupiers.

Her daughter Hanna Astroŭskaya, despite pro-Ukrainian posts at the beginning of the war, later actively cooperated with the Russians, traveled unhindered to the United Arab Emirates and other countries, wrote extensively about travels, often vacationed in occupied Crimea, and was also a frequent guest in Kharlakh.

Павялічыць

Natallia Sharko (left) and Hanna Astroŭskaya. Photo from social networks

Among the victims are also residents of Kalanchak who had no relation to Kharlakh itself, including 16-year-old Darya Klim, 30-year-old Volha Tsyamieznikava, and 65-year-old Lyudmila Pishchyk.

Thus, the authors of the investigation conclude, the explosion occurred in a facility where Russian military personnel were constantly present.

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