On Saturday, a Russian airstrike hit a hardware superstore in Kharkiv, an eastern city in Ukraine, killing two people and injuring 33 others. This attack happened during daylight, targeting a clearly civilian location.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike. He emphasized that the store, which could have had over 200 people inside at the time, was an obvious civilian target. In a statement on Telegram, Zelenskyy called attention to the deliberate nature of the attack on a busy weekend.
The Kharkiv regional governor, Oleg Synegubov, provided details on Instagram. He mentioned that two Russian guided bombs hit the construction hypermarket, causing a massive fire that covered 15,000 square meters.
As per an update from the Kharkiv Prosecutor’s Office, the two deceased were men who worked at the store, and ten other workers are still missing.
Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Minister, Ihor Klymenko, pointed out that the attack was a deliberate strike on a civilian location during a busy time.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Zelenskyy shared a video showing a huge column of black smoke rising from the fire-engulfed building. He stated that emergency services were on site, helping people and trying to extinguish the fire.
Russia has launched another brutal attack on our Kharkiv – on a construction hypermarket, on Saturday, right in the middle of the day.
As of now, it is believed that more than 200 people were in the hypermarket. All the emergency services are already on the site and providing… pic.twitter.com/9ItlGHkkEY
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 25, 2024
Zelenskyy also highlighted the need for better defense systems to prevent such attacks. He argued that if Ukraine had enough air defense systems and modern combat aircraft, these Russian strikes could be stopped. He appealed to international leaders for more support, stressing that every delay in decision-making results in more Ukrainian casualties.
Today's Russian strikes on Kharkiv are yet another example of Russian madness—there is no other way to describe it. Only insane people like Putin are capable of killing and terrorizing people in such heinous ways.
When we tell world leaders that Ukraine requires adequate air… pic.twitter.com/54lCY0ax3r
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 25, 2024
The attack on the hardware store was part of a larger offensive by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, which began on May 10 with around 30,000 troops.
Russian forces have been regularly attacking population centers in Kharkiv Oblast, causing significant civilian casualties and damage.
Local authorities have reported instances of civilian executions by Russian troops. In addition, on the same morning as the hardware store attack, the Ukrainian state railway network was also targeted, resulting in injuries to six employees.
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The United States has been supporting Ukraine since the war with Russia began in 2022. Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Ukraine to reinforce American support for Kyiv amid the ongoing conflict.
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