Russia's attacks on Kharkiv kill six, injure dozens

Russian strikes on a crowded DIY hardware store and a residential area in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Saturday killed at least six people and injured dozens, local officials said.

Six people were killed after two guided bombs hit the DIY hypermarket in a residential area of the city, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television.

At least two of the dead were store employees. Forty people were injured, with at least three in serious condition. Sixteen people were still unaccounted for, Syniehubov said.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said about 120 people had been in the hardware store when the bombs struck.

"The attack targeted the shopping center, where there were many people - this is clearly terrorism," Terekhov said.

Russia has bombarded Kharkiv, which lies about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from its border, throughout the war, having reached its outskirts in a failed bid to capture it in 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a plea to Ukraine's Western allies to help boost air defenses to keep the country's cities safe. French President Emmanuel Macron, writing on X, denounced the attack on the store as "unacceptable."

A separate early evening missile strike hit a residential building in the center of the city of 1.3 million, injuring 18 people, Syniehubov said.

The missile left a crater several meters deep in the pavement at the foot of the building, which also housed a post office, a beauty salon, and a cafe.

Emergency workers ushered away residents of nearby apartment buildings. Some of the injured had blood on their faces.

Andriy Kudinov, director of the suburban shopping center, told local media the hardware store was full of shoppers buying items for their summer cottages.

Reuters