At least two people have been killed after a crowded DIY store in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was hit by Russian strikes, regional officials say.
Two guided bombs hit the hypermarket, wounding many more and triggering a huge blaze that fire crews were battling to contain, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said via the Telegram messaging app.
Up to 200 people could have been in the store, which is in a residential area, at the time of the strikes, which killed at least two people and left at least 24 injured, according to officials.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said many more people were unaccounted for.
“The attack targeted the shopping centre, where there were many people – this is clearly terrorism,” he said.
Video footage showed huge clouds of dark smoke rising into the sky from the site with firefighters’ vehicles and rescuers heading to the scene, while witnesses described panicked scenes at the shopping centre.
“I was at my workplace,” said Dmytro Syrotenko, who had a large gash to his face.
“I heard the first hit and … with my colleague, we fell to the ground. There was the second hit and we were covered with debris. Then we started to crawl to the higher ground.”
The shopping mall was hit by Russian airstrikes. Pic: Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as a “brutal attack” and issued a fresh plea for more air defence to be able to protect the city of about 1.3 million people.
“This is a task that must be accomplished and can only be accomplished together with the world,” he said.
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Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city around 18 miles (30 km) from the Russian border, has been the target of many weeks of Russian attacks.
Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Friday that Ukrainian forces have secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered the north-eastern Kharkiv region earlier this month.
But his comments appeared to be at odds with those made by Russian officials.
Viktor Vodolatsky, a member of Russia’s lower house of parliament, said Russian forces now controlled more than half of the town of Vovchansk, three miles inside the border, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
