By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) – The death toll from a Russian airstrike on a hypermarket in Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday rose to 13, local authorities said on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, the death toll from enemy airstrikes on a construction hypermarket in Kharkiv on May 25 has increased to 13," the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office said on Telegram.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a statement on Telegram that the attack injured more than 43 people, and left 16 people missing.
Expressing that the strike on Saturday caused a fire that spread to more than 13,000 square meters, Klymenko said it took more than 16 hours to extinguish.
He added that the headquarters of the police investigative department and the forensic laboratory are working at the scene of the attack.
In a separate statement, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram that the strike at the hypermarket damaged a furniture store, a shopping center, a bus, and a car. The strike was carried out with two guided bombs, he claimed.
He also reported another Russian attack on Kharkiv's Shevchenkivskyi district later Saturday, which injured 25 people and damaged 12 buildings.
“There is not a single district or street in Kharkiv that hasn’t suffered from this regular cruelty,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video speech recorded at the remains of a local printing house in Kharkiv that was destroyed in a missile strike on Thursday.
While Ukraine was defending itself 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of the city, Russia preparing for another offensive 90 kilometers (56 miles) northwest of the city.
Zelenskyy went on to emphasize the importance of global efforts to end the war, specifically the upcoming Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland on June 15-16 and invited his US and Chinese counterparts to attend the event.
He added that the summit would show "who in the world really wants to end the war and not just claim the cease-fire which will inevitably be broken by Russian rockets and artillery just like it was dozens, dozens of times before."
On May 10, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces attempted to breach the country’s defenses in the Kharkiv region, opening a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that is concentrated in the country’s east and south.
Clashes in the region have intensified since then, particularly near Vovchansk, which is located about 74 kilometers (45 miles) from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Russia claims to have seized control of multiple border settlements since the start of its offensive on the Kharkiv front, as well as other fronts including Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia is planning a similar assault in the northeastern Sumy region, which Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied.