Local authorities say two missiles hit a hardware hypermarket as part of the new Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city.
At least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured in two separate Russian airstrikes on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian authorities said, as Moscow steps up its offensive in the northeast.
Two Russian missiles hit a hardware hypermarket with about 200 people in the first attack on Saturday, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on his Telegram channel.
At least 33 were injured, Syniehubov said, adding that the two people killed were store employees and that the fire caused by the explosion was now under control.
In a separate message on social media, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said four people were missing.
“This attack on Kharkiv is another manifestation of Russian madness,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reacting to news of the attack. He recalled that the target was not the military infrastructure, but rather one of the city’s largest commercial centers.
Russia has repeatedly stated that it does not target civilian infrastructure. However, figures from the United Nations, Ukrainian officials and aid groups have reported tens of thousands of civilian casualties since the Russian invasion began more than two years ago.
“I was at my workplace. I heard the first blow and… together with my colleague, we fell to the ground. There was the second blow and we were covered in debris. So we started crawling to higher ground,” Dmytro Syrotenko, a witness who had a large cut on his face, told Reuters news agency.
Terekhov said a second Russian attack took place in the city center, wounding at least 11 people.
Saturday’s airstrikes on Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border — are the latest in a wave of almost daily attacks that began months ago as Russian forces were advancing on the country’s eastern front. .
Most of the energy infrastructure was seriously damaged in the city, which is still home to around 1.3 million people.
Although it is still far from the city, if Russian forces take control of Kharkiv, it will test Kiev’s morale, said Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from the Ukrainian capital.
“If they manage to evacuate people and depopulate the city, it would be seen as a morale boost for Russia and a devastating blow for Ukraine,” Holman said.
The attacks on the city came after Russian troops launched a cross-border attack on May 10 on the northeastern front of the Kharkiv region. This comes after President Vladimir Putin promised in March to establish a “buffer” zone in the region, in what he calls a response to Kiev’s bombing of Russian border regions such as Belgorod. Russia frequently launches airstrikes against Ukraine from the Belgorod region.
That attack opened a new front in the war, in what Kiev said was an effort to divert its outnumbered troops from the east, where the fiercest fighting is taking place.
In their respective messages, both Zelenskyy and Syniehubov took the opportunity to renew a request for Western allies to send more air defense to protect the city.
“When we tell world leaders that Ukraine needs sufficient air defense protection, when we say that true determination is needed – so that we can protect the lives of our people in whatever way is most effective,” the president said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
