Eleven people have been injured after two Russian missiles wrecked a hotel in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine says a hotel was heavily damaged and firefighters were called to the scene in Kharkiv. Governor Oleh Synehubov said Turkish journalists were among those injured.
Two S-300 missiles struck the hotel at 10.30pm local time (8.30pm GMT). It comes as Russia has ramped up its air strikes on Ukranian cities in the past two weeks, reports the BBC.
Kharkiv is just 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border. It has been hit by extensive air strikes since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.
The latest strike saw nine people taken to hospital, including a 35-year-old man who was in a serious condition, the local governor said on Telegram. The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, quoted by Ukraine’s Unian news agency, said “there were no military at all” in the hotel at the time.
He said 30 people were inside at the time. While several homes and cars near to the hotel were also damaged in the blast.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has this week called for more help for Ukraine. He has asked for help so he could bolster Ukraine’s air defence systems.
“Air defence systems are what we lack the most. The fight against drones. I am happy that we have agreements with Lithuania and many other partners,” he said.
