Sunday 26 May 2024

Ukraine's president says 200 people were inside Kharkiv mall hit by Russian missile.

Extract from ABC News 

ABC News Homepage


Ukraine's president said more than 200 people might have been inside a Kharkiv hardware superstore struck by Russia on Saturday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared the news via the social platform Telegram.

"There were a lot of workers and shoppers inside. Now the fire is on the whole territory," Mr Zelenskyy said.

"Only madmen like [Russian president Vladimir] Putin are capable of killing and terrorising people in such a vile way."

He also called for more support from western nations to bolster Ukraine's air defence systems.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two men who worked at the store were killed when two guided bomb strikes sparked a massive fire.

He added that at least 35 people were injured.

A firefighter and a man stand in front of a burning store, with smoke flowing into the sky.
Officials say many people are missing after the superstore was struck.(Reuters/Sofiia Gatilova )

Kharkiv's Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that according to the store's owner, 15 store employees had not been in contact and approximately 200 people were in the building at the time of the strikes.

"We have a large number of people missing. There are many wounded," Mr Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

"Apparently, the attack was on a shopping centre where there were many people -- this is pure terrorism."

A separate strike on a residential area in central Kharkiv also injured eight people on Saturday, Mr Terekhov said.

Russia launched a fresh ground offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10, and has captured a number of villages.

The city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest, regularly comes under attack from Russian missiles, with strikes on the city killing at least seven people on Thursday.

AFP

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