Russian troops have struck a police building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkov on Friday, killing at least one officer and injuring dozens, Ukrainian officials said.
According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, a Russian S-400 missile hit an unspecified “facility that housed police officers.” A 43-year-old police colonel has been killed, while 30 police officers, a first responder and nine civilians were injured, the ministry said. Interior Minister Igor Klimenko wrote on Facebook that some of the wounded officers are in critical condition.
Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin wrote on Telegram that Kharkov’s police headquarters had been hit. As of early Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials did not reveal which police site was targeted.
The Kharkov regional governor, Oleg Sinegub, wrote on Telegram that the city was struck with an S-300 missile on Friday, and that four civilians were injured. He added that 20 apartment blocks and individual houses were damaged.
Although the S-400 and the S-300 are both surface-to-air missiles, Ukrainian experts previously claimed that Russia was using anti-air missiles to strike ground targets.
Moscow has not commented on its most recent strikes. The Russian Defense Ministry has said in the past that it only targets military and military-linked sites.
In its latest daily briefing, the MOD said that the Russian forces carried out 44 “group strikes” between October 26 and November 1, hitting airfields and railroads that were used to transport troops, as well as energy infrastructure sites that powered “Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.”
On Friday, the MOD said that the Russian military had struck a drone command and control center in Kiev, along with drone manufacturing sites and UAV stockpiles.