(CNN) � At least two people have been killed and others are missing after a Russian strike hit a large hardware store in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Saturday, according to officials.
“Two Russian guided aerial bombs hit a construction hypermarket in Kharkiv. According to updated reports, two people were killed,� Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said in post on Telegram.
“Specialized services are responding to the scene. All injured are being provided with assistance,� Syniehubov said. “There is not a single military object nearby,� he added.
Kharkiv’s city mayor Ihor Terekhov told journalists that there were roughly 200 people in the building at the time of the strike and that authorities haven’t been able to get in touch with about 15 employees of the store.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike a “brutal attack� in a , saying 200 people could have been inside.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that “significant amounts of flammable materials� inside the hypermarket are making firefighting “complicated,� adding that there is also a possibility of the fire spreading further to nearby warehouses.
“At the same time, there is a constant threat of repeated enemy shelling,� Klymenko said.
The attack comes as Russian forces continue to advance in the Kharkiv region after crossing the northern border earlier this month and opening a new front in the conflict.
Seven people were killed in , after locations including a printing house were targeted.
After Saturday’s attack, Zelensky reiterated that “if Ukraine had enough air defense systems and modern combat aircraft, such Russian strikes would have been impossible.�
“That is why we are appealing to all leaders, to all states: we need a significant strengthening of air defense,� he said.
“This is a task that must be accomplished and can only be done together with the world. Every day we call on the world: give us air defense, save people. Every single withheld decision on support means the loss of our people,� Zelensky added.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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