11 wounded in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv

A Russian missile attack struck a hotel in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday evening, wounding 11 people, including journalists, according to local authorities.

The strike comes just ahead of the war’s second anniversary, with both Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of inflicting dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks.

“Two missiles hit a hotel in the center of Kharkiv. There were no military personnel there. Instead, there were 30 civilians, eleven of whom were wounded,” Mayor Igor Terekhov posted on Telegram.

One of the wounded is in “very serious condition,” he said, adding that Turkish journalists were among those hurt, without providing further details.

According to police, a journalist from a foreign publication had been wounded.

Several other buildings, including two apartment blocks, were also damaged in the latest strike.

Oleg Synegoubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said two Russian S-300 missiles hit the hotel around 10:30 p.m. (2030 GMT).

Nine of the 11 wounded were hospitalized and two were treated on-site, with a 35-year-old man the most seriously injured, he said.

Located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border, Ukraine’s second-largest city has borne a heavy brunt of the war, seeing regular and often deadly aerial assaults.

Kyiv has warned it needs continued Western support and air equipment to sustain its air defense systems amid the intensifying drone and missile attacks launched by Russia.