Ukraine says death toll from missile attack on Kharkiv rises to 2
Search, rescue efforts ongoing, says local authorities, as missile strike, denied by Moscow, also left 30 people injured
Aftermath of Russian missile attack on Kharkiv
ISTANBUL
The death toll from a suspected Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv on Friday rose to two, local authorities said Saturday.
“Another body has been found under the rubble of the destroyed building. According to preliminary information, it is a woman,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a statement on Telegram early Saturday, noting that search and rescue efforts at the site are ongoing.
Terekhov wrote earlier that a child's body was found under the rubble of the multi-story building hit in the city’s Kyivskyi district, which he said injured 30 people.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov specified that the five-story residential building was “almost completely destroyed,” adding that the windows and facades of nearby buildings were damaged due to the strike.
He put the number of injured at 28 and said that the strike also damaged part of the entrance to a nearby four-story apartment building.
“Preliminary reports indicate two missiles struck an ordinary residential area (in Kharkiv),” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted on US social media company X following the incident, condemning the attack amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied launching the missile, saying the military did not plan or carry out airstrikes within the city and that an explosion at the site was the result of the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.
It also claimed that the allegations against Moscow sought to “distract international attention” from a New Year’s Eve attack in a village in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which Russian-installed officials said killed 28 people.
Moscow blamed the attack on Kyiv, while Ukraine’s General Staff spokesman Dmytro Lykhovii denied attacking civilians in remarks to public broadcaster Suspilne.
Kharkiv, located roughly 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border, has been regularly targeted by airstrikes amid the ongoing conflict.
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