Will Stewart
Updated May 27, 2024 02:12, May 27, 2024 02:38
Shocking security camera footage shows the moment a Russian rocket struck a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv, killing at least 14 people and wounding many more.
Russia has suggested that the Epicentre outlet was a military target linked to Ukrainian military intelligence.
But the video shows what appears to be a terrorist attack on civilians in eastern Ukraine, as one of two Russian guided bombs suddenly crashes through the roof of an ordinary shop selling DIY tools and household items such as toilets and sinks.
Tragically, an eight-year-old boy named Mihailo was filmed giving a DNA sample to help rescuers confirm the identity of his father, one of seven people still missing and feared dead in the rubble.
“It is clear that people were completely unprepared for such an attack, they were at work and minding their own business,” said Serhiy Borvinov, head of the regional police investigation department.
“Throughout the night, investigators and criminologists searched the burnt area, the ruins of the epicenter, for recognizable human remains.”
“I'm worried we'll have to sift through the ashes to find the remains and identify the dead.”
One comment on this brutal strike read: “As always, [the Russians] “Civilians are venting their anger in retaliation for the failed offensive in the Kharkiv region. Russia is a scumbag state.”
“Some workers died while evacuating people,” said the manager of a construction hypermarket.
A Russian source posted that this is not an ordinary DIY shop, but “a military base equipped with weapons. All employees work for the Central Intelligence Agency and the only visitors are military personnel.”
Footage from the moments before the attack clearly shows toilets, sinks, taps and other ordinary household items, seemingly dispelling this theory.
“Human shield tactics are being used in Kharkiv,” a Russian intelligence source said.
'They are [the Ukrainians] They have set up a military base and headquarters in the shopping center, and our intelligence agencies have discovered it.”
One witness said: “There were many families at the epicentre. The summer season has started so people had come to buy things.”
About 200 people were inside the restaurant, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called the attack “another manifestation of Russian madness.”
He again pleaded with Ukraine's allies to supply air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians.
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Kharkiv is just 18 miles from the Russian border and has been one of the cities hardest hit by Moscow's illegal bombing campaign since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin sees Kharkiv as a spoils of invasion and, despite losing tens of thousands of troops there in recent months, is trying to rally new troops and push the front line further into Ukraine.
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said: “The attack targeted a crowded shopping centre and was clearly a terrorist attack.”
“I was at work when I heard the first explosion and my colleague and I fell to the ground. Then there was a second explosion and we were covered in rubble. Then we started crawling to higher ground,” said Dmytro Syrotenko, 26, who suffered large cuts on his face.
Police body camera footage of the first minutes after the attack shows rescue workers searching the rubble for human remains.
Among the dead was a 12-year-old girl. Authorities have identified six of the 16 people killed in the brutal attack. An additional 14 women and 30 men were injured.
Police chief Volvinov spoke of the tragedy of the Russian onslaught: “The whole family of a 20-year-old woman went shopping today at the spot where two airstrikes took place,” he said.
“Her 12-year-old sister and mother were no longer answering their phones or coming home.”
“Her father was with her and is now in hospital with a concussion. The woman returned to the mall later in the evening.”
“She has already provided a DNA sample. Unfortunately, we will be searching for her relatives among the dead.”
A supermarket employee survived and was searching for his missing wife, the store's manager.