Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment Russian rockets strike a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv in an attack that left at least 14 dead and many others wounded.
Russia has suggested the Epicentre outlet was a military target linked to Ukrainian military intelligence.
But a video shows a normal store selling DIY equipment and household goods such as toilets and sinks as suddenly one of two Russian guided bombs exploded through the roof in what appears to be a terrorist attack on civilians in eastern Ukraine.
An eight-year-old boy called Mykhailo has tragically been pictured giving a DNA sample so rescuers can identify his father, who is among seven people who remain missing in the rubble and are feared to have died.
Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the regional police investigative department, said: ‘It is clear that people were completely unprepared for such an attack, they were at work and minding their own business.
A CCTV video shows a normal store selling DIY equipment and household goods such as toilets and sinks as suddenly one of two Russian guided bombs exploded through the roof in what appears to be a terrorist attack on civilians in eastern Ukraine
Black smoke is billowing into the sky after two Russian rockets struck the DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv, killing at least 14 people
An eight-year-old boy called Mykhailo (above) has tragically been pictured giving a DNA sample so rescuers can identify his father, who is among seven people who remain missing in the rubble and are feared to have died
Devastated people are being comforted by police as they grieve their loved ones who died in the attack
‘Investigators and criminologists were looking for something that can be recognised as a human body all night long in this charred area, the ruins of the Epicentre.
‘We are afraid that we will have to sift through the ashes in order to find the remains and identify the dead.’
One comment on the cruel strike said: ‘As usual, [the Russians] are taking revenge on civilians for the failure of the offensive in the Kharkiv region. They take out their anger. Russia is a scum state.’
‘Some workers died because they were evacuating people,’ said the director of the construction hypermarket.
A Russian source posted that this was not a regular DIY store but ‘a military base with weapons. All employees serve in the Main Intelligence Directorate, only military personnel are visitors.’
The footage immediately before the strike appears to dispel this theory with toilets, sinks, taps and other normal household goods plainly in view.
A Russian source had said: ‘The tactic of human shields is being used in Kharkiv.
‘They [the Ukrainians] have set up a military camp and a command post in a shopping centre, which was discovered by our intelligence service.’
Up to 200 people and 15 staff are believed to have been inside the Epitcentre hypermarket – which sells household and DIY goods – at the time of the attack
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said that according to the store’s owner, they had lost contact with several store employees
Bomb remnants were seen on the ground where the attack violently struck in the Kyiv district
A man watches as smoke rises from the hypermarket after being hit by a Russian air strike
There was extensive damage to the building, which was engulfed by intense flames following the attack
Around 120 people had been in the hardware store when the bombs struck, though earlier estimates suggested it was closer to 200
The strikes caused a massive fire, which ravaged the hypermarket in Kharkiv on Saturday
Russia currently occupies around 18 per cent of Ukraine, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014
Firefighters wade through the wreckage on Sunday, hours after the building was hit by a Russian airstrike
It took emergency workers 16 hours to fully extinguish the fire at the hypermarket, which had raged over an area of 13,000 square metres
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said around 120 people had been in the hardware store when the bombs struck, though earlier estimates suggested it was closer to 200
One witness said: ‘There were many families in the Epicentre. People came to buy because the summer season has started.’
Some 200 people were in the store, according to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. The attack was ‘another manifestation of Russian madness’, he said.
He again pleaded with Ukraine’s allies to supply air defence systems to protect its civilians.
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Deadly aftermath of Putin's 'vile' attack on Kharkiv hardware store as emergency teams search for 16 shoppers still missing as death toll rises to 12 so far
Kharkiv is only 18 miles from the Russian border and is one of the worst-hit cities in Moscow’s illegal bombing campaign since Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin sees the city as a prize for invasion, and he again masses fresh troops attempting to push the frontline further into Ukrainian territory, despite losing tens of thousands in recent months in the Kharkiv direction.
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said: ‘The attack targeted the shopping centre, where there were many people – this is clearly terrorism.’
‘I was at my workplace. I heard the first hit and… with my colleague, we fell to the ground. There was the second hit and we were covered with debris. Then we started to crawl to the higher ground,’ said Dmytro Syrotenko, 26, who had a large gash on his face.
Police body-cam footage of the first minutes after the attack shows salvage workers sifting through the debris for human remains.
A girl aged 12 was among the civilians who died as authorities have identified six of the 16 killed in the savage attack. Another 14 women and 30 men were injured.
Videos posted by witnesses on social media show a huge column of black smoke billowing into the sky from a fire in the store
Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said: ‘The attack targeted the shopping centre, where there were many people – this is clearly terrorism’
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov arrives at the scene to inspect the aftermath of the attack
Emergency service workers climb through the wreckage after Russia carried out a strike on a crowded DIY hardware store in Kharkiv, on Saturday afternoon
Twelve people have been reported dead and at least 16 are still missing following the strike on Epicentr DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv
The strikes caused a massive fire which sent a column of thick, black smoke billowing hundreds of metres into the air
Forty-three people were injured, while 10 of the twelve dead had still not been identified, the local prosecutors’ office said. Pictured: Emergency service workers look for 16 missing people
Police head Bolvinov spoke of the tragedy of the Russian onslaught. ‘The whole family of a 20-year-old woman went shopping today to the place where two aerial bombs landed,’ he said.
‘Her 12-year-old sister and mother no longer answer the calls, they did not return home.
‘The father was with them – now he is in hospital with concussion. The woman returned to the mall late in the evening.
‘She has already given DNA samples. Unfortunately, we will look for her relatives among the dead.’
A hypermarket worker survived and was looking for his missing wife, a department head at the store.