Two people, one of them a three-year-old child, have been killed and approximately 28 injured in a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials confirmed.
A multi-story residential apartment block was almost completely destroyed in the dual missile attack on Friday afternoon, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called “heinous”.
Russia’s Defence Ministry denied reports of an attack, suggesting on Telegram that the blast at the site had been caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.
The strike comes as Ukraine is due to host crunch talks in Kyiv on Saturday.
Zelensky says around 15 countries are expected to attend the talks, along with representatives from the European Union and NATO, and a US delegation joining the meeting via video link. It comes ahead of leaders from the so-called coalition of the willing meeting in France on 6 January.
Kharkiv officials say the bodies of a woman and a three-year-old child were found in the rubble, with preliminary information suggesting the pair could have been a mother and son.
“Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people – they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Of the 28 injured, which included a six-month-old baby, 16 have been taken to hospital.
A search and rescue operation is ongoing with more than 80 volunteers working at the scene, according to an update from Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation neither planned nor launched attacks using missile weapons or aircraft weapons within the city of Kharkiv,” the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement to Telegram.
It added that video footage from before the attack showed “heavy smoke of unknown origin”, which it cited as evidence of ammunition detonated by Ukrainian armed forces.
The ministry also alleged that the reports were seeking to distract world attention from a New Year’s Eve strike on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Russia has accused Ukraine of killing at least 27 people and injuring more than 30 in the drone strike on a New Year’s party in the village of Khorly on the Black Sea.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify either these claims or the number of casualties.
When asked by the BBC for comment, Ukraine said it would not directly respond to sources of information such as claims from governors of occupied regions.
It added that it adheres to the norms of international humanitarian law and conducts strikes exclusively against military targets.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened an investigation into the attack, while the Russian foreign affairs ministry accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of “seeking to intimidate the populations of the reunited Russian regions, who have forever linked their fates with Russia through referendums”.
