Two Russian missiles targeted a hotel in the middle of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, late Wednesday, hurting 11 people, one of them was critically injured, according to the regional governor.
Many of the windows and balconies had been blown out, leaving massive amounts of rubble in the street below. Emergency crews sifted through rubble inside the facade, which had large breaches.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov, writing on Telegram, said the strike occurred around 10.30 p.m. local time and used S-300 missiles in the city’s Kyiv area.
“Nine of those injured have been taken to medical facilities,” Synehubov stated on the Telegram chat service. “One of them, a 35-year-old man, is in serious condition.” Visiting Turkish journalists were among those hurt, he stated.
“One rocket struck next to the hotel, just near a fence. The other one struck a nearby annexe’, Kharkiv Police Chief Volodymyr Tymoshko said state TV Suspilne.
“Almost everyone in Kharkiv is aware that servicemen have never stayed at this hotel.”
“It was used by journalists.”
A hotel visitor, psychiatrist Mykhailo Bebeshko, informed Suspilne that he had not heard any air raid alerts prior to the missile strike.
“I was in the loo, and that is what saved me. “I fell, hit my head, and lay on the floor,” he explained.
“A second explosion blew out all of the doors, and I was fortunate to be on the floor. And I called out to my coworkers, “Is everyone okay?” Is everyone still alive?
In a video released on Telegram, Oleksandr Filchakov, chief of the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office, stated that the missiles impacted the hotel with 23 guests and eight staff members.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that several homes in the district had been damaged, as well as a manufacturing plant and a car dealership.
The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
