A family was destroyed in a blast that also left rows of empty homes.

In a small cemetery, a recently cut tomb was still decorated with wreaths and a yellow and blue Ukrainian flag.

Even still, words scrawled on ornamental ribbons reflected the sorrow of an aunt, uncle, wife, and kids.

Just one day later, all of those family would be buried nearby in their own graves.

They were among the at least 52 individuals who were murdered after a missile struck the funeral service for a Ukrainian soldier named Andriy Kozyr on Thursday in the hamlet of Hroza in eastern Ukraine. Every member of the soldier's immediate family who was known to be nearby was instantly killed by the missile.

The attack on Hroza village stood out as one of the single deadliest strikes of the war, killing a significant section of a tiny hamlet, even by the standards of Russia's war in Ukraine, in which missile, artillery, and rocket strikes often kill a dozen or more people.

According to the UN, more than 25,000 civilians have been killed or injured as a result of Russian attacks, and Ukraine's monthly estimates of civilian casualties are frequently higher than the losses in Hroza. However, 19 months after Russia's invasion, the deaths in ones and twos frequently pass as personal tragedies for families rather than widespread disasters.

The villagers were left wondering why their community center had been destroyed, as was the case with other sites attacked in Ukraine.

The remnants of the wake ceremony could be seen lying about the striking site, including a dress shoe, a handkerchief, jackets, and abandoned purses.

Police personnel gathered watches, wallets, telephones, and other valuables in plastic bags to give to survivors' family.

According to a census, the town had 330 residents, but a municipal worker claimed that throughout the war, that number had dropped closer to 150. This means that the attack on Thursday caused the community to lose between a third and a sixth of its population.

Petro Krasevych, a resident, claimed that "everyone died." He indicated a number of homes on a particular block that he claimed were abandoned as a result of the strike. "A cow and an empty house now."

He claimed that Mr. Krasevych had turned to his faith for support.

He and his wife had intended to attend the wake as friends of the family of the fallen soldier.

The hamlet, which is only 25 miles from the front line, has experienced an increase in fear around Russian agents. According to Mr. Krasevych, the police were canvassing neighborhoods to see whether any residents may have informed the Russians about a soldier's wake. Mr. Krasevych remarked, "I don't know what kind of individual would kill his neighbors.

The attack occurred as the Kozyr family's friends, family, and neighbors were enjoying a lunch in a small cafe. A regional governor reported that one of the victims was a 6-year-old boy. Four persons, two adults and two children, were still unaccounted for as crews reached the bottom of the rubble pile on Friday. Only DNA testing of the fragments could verify whether or not they had perished in the accident.

President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to have trouble finding the right words to condemn the attack during his nightly address on Thursday. He claimed that calling it "beastly" would be disrespectful to animals.

"It wasn't an attack in the dark. For a memorial supper, a Christian memorial meal, people had gathered there. Who is capable of firing a missile at them? Who?" He queried.

Despite the fact that the incident fit a lengthy history of Russian missile attacks on populated areas, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov reiterated his denial of Russian military strikes on civilian targets on Friday.

Neighbors in Hroza pointed us home after home that had lost inhabitants, claiming that the rocket killed at least a dozen people on Samarska Street.

tractor driver Anatoly Horbenko, 26, claimed he

One family had marked a site with tape, wooden pegs, and the names of the people who would be buried there—Mykola and Tetyana Androsovich—in advance of the influx of burials.

"Everyone of us knew somebody who died, a godfather, a sister, a brother," Volodymyr Shudravy, a village worker assisting with the cemetery's expansion, said. "Now we need to bury these people somewhere," he continued.

He claimed that the death toll was high because Mr. Kozyr, a popular villager who lost his life in the war, had many visitors who came to pay their respects. Mrs. Kozyr and her daughter had been overcome with sorrow as mourners came for the wake.

Tetyana Vorobyova, the wife of the village priest, described them as "crying so hard they were almost screaming."