At least four dead and others missing after Russian attack on hardware store in Kharkiv

CNN
—

At least four people were killed and 33 injured when a Russian attack hit a large hardware store in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Saturday, officials said.

According to the authorities, another eleven people are still missing. All of them are employees of the shopping center.

According to official reports, nearly 200 people were in the building at the time of the attack.

“The air raid siren went off and some people managed to escape from the building, about 100 people. However, there were still people in the building,” Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said in an interview on national television on Saturday.

“Specialized services are on the scene. All the injured are being helped,” Syniehubov said earlier. “There is not a single military facility nearby,” he added.

Two of the dead were employees of the hypermarket, said the head of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, Oleksandr Filchakov.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as a “brutal attack” in a post on X.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that “significant amounts of flammable materials” inside the hypermarket “complicate” firefighting, and there is a possibility that the fire could spread to nearby warehouses.

“At the same time, there is a constant danger of repeated enemy shelling,” Klymenko said.

The attack came as Russian forces continued to advance in the Kharkiv region after crossing the northern border earlier this month, opening a new front in the conflict.

Seven people were killed in Russian attacks on the city on Thursday, including a printing factory.

After Saturday’s attack, Zelensky reiterated: “If Ukraine had had sufficient air defense systems and modern fighter aircraft, such Russian attacks would have been impossible.”

“That is why we appeal to all heads of state and government, to all countries: we need a significant strengthening of air defence,” he said.

“This is a task that must be accomplished and can only be accomplished together with the world. Every day we call on the world: give us air defense, save people. Every single decision on support that is withheld means the loss of our people,” Zelensky added.

Meanwhile, at least two people were killed and at least ten injured in a Ukrainian attack on a Russian village in the Belgorod region, the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Saturday.

Among the injured was an eight-year-old boy, he said, adding: “All the victims had shrapnel injuries to various parts of their bodies.”

As a result of the attack, a private residential building caught fire, and about 20 other buildings and 23 cars were damaged. “All operational services are deployed at the scene,” Gladkov said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.