51 civilians killed in missile strike at Ukraine café; Putin says Prigozhin plane had no signs of external impact: Updates

Russia blasted several Ukrainian provinces Thursday with a multi-pronged attack — killing at least 51 civilians in a missile strike at a village café and market in the northeast and swarming south and central regions with drones — as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was about to make his case for a unified front against Moscow's aggression to European leaders.

The assault in the Kharkiv province village of Hroza, where about 60 people were attending a wake for a local fallen soldier, was one of the deadliest in the war in months, Ukrainian authorities said. Zelenskyy branded it "terrorism'' and said it was a "demonstrably brutal Russian crime."

Emergency personnel cleared out rubble while cadavers and body parts were strewn on a nearby children's playground in Hroza, located less than 20 miles west of Kupiansk, a focus of the Russian military effort. Before traveling to southern Spain early Thursday for a summit with fellow European heads of state, Zelenskyy had visited the area Tuesday to meet with troops and inspect equipment supplied by the West.

He pled for more after Thursday's onslaught, which included a 29-drone barrage aimed at Odesa and Mykolaiv in the south as well as the central Kirovohrad province. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 24 of the drones, but one of the five that got through damaged an infrastructure facility in Kirovohrad, regional administration head Andriy Raykovych said.

"The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defense, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

The White House and European Union condemned the missile strike, which EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell called "appalling terror" and a war crime.

Developments:

∎ Russia has successfully tested an experimental nuclear-powered cruise missile, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, warning the country’s parliament could revoke its ratification of a treaty banning nuclear tests.

∎ Germany and Spain are responding to Zelenskyy's request for air defense help, pledging a fourth Patriot system and six more Hawk air systems, respectively.

∎ The British government announced a fourth loan guarantee of $500 million for Ukraine so it "can provide life-saving winter support payments to three million households'' in the expectation that Russia will again attempt to leave Ukrainians in the cold by attacking the country's energy system.

∎ Marina Ovsyannikova, a former state TV journalist who warned viewers on camera they were being lied to about the war, was sentenced in absentia to 8 1/2 years in prison for her protest. She defected to France with her daughter.

Allies have to 'save unity in Europe'

At a time when support for Ukraine seems to be flagging in the U.S. and other parts of the West, the approximately 50 European leaders meeting Thursday in the Spanish city of Granada vowed to remain firm in their backing.

The exclusion of military aid for Ukraine in the funding deal that averted a U.S. government shutdown last weekend, combined with the election of pro-Russia candidate Robert Fico in Slovakia and Hungary's tenuous support have raised questions about the commitment of Ukraine's allies as the Kremlin continues its relentless attack.

“The main challenge that we have is to save unity in Europe,” Zelenskyy said.

President Joe Biden Biden called other world powers Tuesday to coordinate on Ukraine in a deliberate show of the U.S. backing, and said he's looking at alternate avenues for funding security assistance in light of growing resistance from Republicans and turmoil in the House. One of those options is a State Department grant program for foreign military financing, Politico reported Thursday.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the push to bolster Ukraine's war effort won't succeed without U.S. involvement.

“Everybody that doesn’t want Putin winning this war is to look for ways for the U.S. to retake this issue and continue supporting Ukraine,” Borrell said. “Certainly we can do more. But the U.S. is something irreplaceable for the support of Ukraine.”

Putin says doomed Prigozhin plane had no signs of external impact

Putin said an investigation into the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin and top lieutenants of his mercenary Wagner Group showed no signs of sustaining an "external impact," suggesting something that happened inside might have brought down the private jet.

Putin said hand grenade fragments were found in the bodies. All 10 aboard died in the Aug. 23 crash northwest of Moscow, which U.S. officials concluded was caused by an intentional explosion. The Kremlin has called allegations that Putin was behind the crash an "absolute lie."

Prigozhin's mercenaries played a key role in Russia's war in Ukraine, especially the grinding battle for months to take the eastern city of Bakhmut. But after constantly berating the Russian Defense Ministry, he crossed Putin by leading a June 23 insurrection that lasted about 36 hours.

Prigozhin and his fighters were granted asylum in Belarus as part of a deal to end the rebellion. Eventually, he met an untimely death much like previous Putin opponents.

Russia may be plotting to sabotage Ukraine shipping corridor

Now that Ukraine has enjoyed some success exporting its grain through a new shipping corridor in the Black Sea, Russia may be looking to sabotage the project without getting blamed.

The shipping corridor, a response to Russia's withdrawal in July from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and subsequent threats to vessels in the area, has allowed several cargo ships safe passage through a route that hugs the coast of Romania and Bulgaria, both NATO members.

The U.K. Foreign Office said Russia may lay sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports to target civilian vessels and point the finger at Ukraine.

"Russia almost certainly wants to avoid openly sinking civilian ships, instead falsely laying blame on Ukraine for any attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea," the Foreign Office said, adding that the U.K. was working with Ukraine to help improve the safety of shipping.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine Russia war updates: Missile strike kills 51 at café