Russian Airstrike Kills at least 9 in Kharkiv Supermarket

A Russian strike on a crowded supermarket in Kharkiv, Ukraine, killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens more, sparking condemnation from President Zelensky as an act of "Russian madness" and calls for better air defenses.

At least eleven people were killed and more than fifty injured after the Russians used two glide bombs to attack a supermarket in Kharkiv, a city in northern Ukraine on Saturday, local authorities said.

The bombs exploded at Epicenter K home improvement store, causing a large fire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that more than two hundred people could be inside at the time of the strike, which he called “pure terrorism” and an act of “Russian madness.

“This is another attack on Kharkiv which is another sign of Russian insanity,” President Zelensky said, adding, “Only the madmen like Putin are capable of killing and terrorizing people like this. ”

The head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleh Syniehubov, first indicated that the death toll at the scene of the strike on the crowded supermarket was six people, 40 were injured, and 16 people were missing. By Sunday, he increased the number of deaths to eleven. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that “a large number” of people had not been accounted for while rescuers were sifting through the debris.

The deadly attack shows that Ukraine requires more advanced air defense systems from the Western partners, which Zelensky pushed after the strikes. It comes shortly after G7 finance ministers supported a US move to offer $50 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, pledging seized Russian assets as security.

Russia has gradually used cheaper but highly accurate glide bombs with the addition of wings and GPS navigation to Soviet-era weapons. In March, he claimed, 3,000 such bombs were dropped on Ukraine which played a part in Russian advances such as the seizure of Avdiivka.

Also Read: Russia's so-called Glide Bombs Are Rooting Out The Hearts Of Ukrainian Cities

As the sad statistics of Kharkiv have shown, these low-cost glide bombs pose a significant threat to Ukrainian cities that do not have adequate air defenses. The latest strike indicates Moscow is capitalizing on a period before additional support from the West arrives on Ukraine's front lines.