Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that Russia had bombed a DIY supplies shop in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing 12 people.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Kirmenko posted on the social media platform Telegram that 43 people were injured in the attack and 16 were still missing.
Klimenko said the fire that broke out after the airstrike was finally put out early on Sunday after firefighters worked for 16 hours to put out the blaze.
Russia struck the store with at least one glide bomb on Saturday, after it alleged that Ukraine had hidden an arms cache inside the store.
“Human shield tactics are being used in Kharkov. [the Ukrainians] “Russia is setting up a military base and command center in the shopping center, and our intelligence services have discovered it,” Russian state news agency TASS quoted an anonymous representative of the Russian leadership as saying.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 200 people were inside the Epicentre hardware store at the time of the attack.
President Zelensky called the attack “another sign of Russian madness” and renewed his call for Ukraine's allies to provide air defence systems to protect civilians.
Kharkiv, located just 30 kilometers from the Russian border, has been one of the cities hardest hit by Moscow's bombing campaign since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.