The number of victims of the Russian airstrike on the building of the IH hardware store in Kharkov increased to 16 on Sunday, and the head of the Kharkov region noted that most of the victims are civilians, said regional governor Oleksiy Kocher.
He stated at the initial session that the attack killed six people instantly, 40 others were injured, and 16 others remained unaccounted for after two guided Russian bombs detonated at the store.
‘Two of those he shot dead were men who worked in the hypermarket,’ the attacker, Yegorov, said in the video he later posted on Telegram.
Black, thick smoke rose from the superstore Existent located on the northeastern outskirts of the city as firefighters doused the area with water after the barrage caused a fire outburst [AFP journalists witnessed].
Existent is a leading retail chain company that specializes in the sale of household and do-it-yourself products.
‘I was cleaning the store when it happened,’ said Liubov, a cleaner who had been swinging her legs while still in her uniform.
The incident occurred suddenly, and the lady in particular has struggled to understand what transpired as everything became dark and nothing was left for them as they fell to the ground, she said.
“For now, we have established that more than 200 people could be inside the hypermarket,
Zelensky said on Saturday, stating that the daytime attack was conducted on a “crystal-clear civilian target.”.
Current French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Twitter that he found the attack by Russians on the store unjustified.
“France accompanies Ukraine fully, and no one can deny the fact that we share the pain of the Ukrainians,” he said.
The allegedly intercepted phone call also indicated that the attack targeted a military store and command post inside the shopping mall, the Russian TASS state news agency quoted a security source as saying.
The regional governor claimed that
“there is no communication with some of the employees” and “as per the information of the governor, people could also still be indoors.”.
