Russian missile attack on Kharkiv kills five

KHARKIV: A Russian missile hit an industrial area in Ukraine’s northern city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring seven while causing a major fire in a printing house, local authorities said.

The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia to the north and lies close to the front line, has suffered regular drone and missile attacks during Russia’s two-year-old invasion.

The X-59 missile struck the high-storey industrial building in the afternoon.

“The building houses production facilities and offices. This is an act of terrorism because it was conducted at a time when the vast majority of the people are at work,” Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the regional police, was quoted as saying on a police account on Telegram.

Rescuers worked at the site, looking for survivors and fighting flames. The area of the fire expanded to 10,000 square metres (107,000 square feet) from an initial 1,000 square metres, according to the emergency services.