Russian missile strike kills seven in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, officials say

A midmorning Russian missile attack on the town of Merefa, in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, killed seven people and wounded more than 30, including a 2-year-old boy, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said that at least 10 houses, an administrative building, four shops, a car repair workshop, and a food establishment were damaged in the attack, which prosecutors said occurred at about 9:35 a.m. local time.

"The strike was of great force, at the centre of the town, practically in the middle of the roads," he said on Telegram, adding that it will take another day or two to clear the debris.

He said that two men and three women were killed on the spot. Two people died while being treated in hospital.

There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Ihor Kolodiazhnyi's wife was one of the women killed in the attack. He frantically searched for her as explosions ripped through the small city, about 25 km southwest of the city of Kharkiv.

"I was at home. She'd gone out about 10 minutes earlier, maybe even less. I heard an explosion," the 41-year-old told Reuters as he stood in the street near the covered body of his wife, also 41.

"I went down there, but she didn't answer (the phone) and wasn't on the road. I understood that she couldn't have gone any further. I turned back, parked the car, and came out here, because she usually walks to work on this side. I walked closer, and that was it – my wife was gone..."

Reuters footage showed a crater on the road in front of damaged cars.

Regional prosecutors said Russian forces appeared to have used an Iskander-type ballistic missile. At least 36 people were injured, they said.

Emergency services posted photos of a building with a damaged roof and blown-out windows, a firefighter extinguishing a burning car, and rescuers attending to a woman lying on the ground with her face and hands covered in blood.

"I've never been so scared in my life. Not so much from the explosion itself, but from the aftermath I witnessed afterwards," Inna Suprun, 51, told Reuters.

Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilians during the war although its attacks have killed thousands of them since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine has also hit civilian targets in Russia or Russian-occupied areas, though on a far smaller scale.

Kyiv also said on Monday that Russia has notably stepped up its targeting of Ukrainian port infrastructure this year.