KYIV, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Friday, leaving the building in ruins and killing at least two people and injuring about 25 more, officials said.
Russia denied the attack had taken place, suggesting that an explosion at the site was caused by Ukrainian ammunition.
Photographs and videos posted online showed smoke rising from an area of destruction, with emergency crews making their way through rubble and large chunks of building materials.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, writing on Telegram, said that according to preliminary information the bodies of a woman and her son were found under rubble.
Speaking earlier on Ukrainian television, Syniehubov said two ballistic missiles had struck the area and “nearly destroyed a five-storey dwelling”.
“Rescue teams are on site,” he said. “They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath.”
Ukraine’s state Emergency Services said it was deploying find people it believed were still trapped under the ruins of the building.
Syniehubov earlier said 25 people were injured, with 16 in hospital, including a woman in serious condition. He said customers may have been at shops and a cafe on the building’s first floor when the explosion occurred.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, writing on Telegram, said reports of an attack were untrue and suggested the blast at the site had been caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.
“Published video footage seconds before the explosion shows thick smoke of unknown origin which, to a high probability, would indicate that a detonation of stored Ukrainian military ammunition occurred at the ‘Persona’ shopping centre,” it said.
The ministry said the reports sought to distract world attention from a New Year’s Eve strike, which it blamed on Ukraine, on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Ukraine responded by saying its strikes were aimed at Russian military and energy targets.
The area’s Russia-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, told TASS news agency on Friday that the death toll in that incident had risen to 28.
Located 30 km (18 miles) from the border, Kharkiv withstood Russian advances in the early weeks of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.
With Russia’s forces focused since on capturing eastern regions of the country, the city has been a frequent target of aerial attacks.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Ron Popeski, Gareth Jones and Alistair Bell)
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