Russia-Ukraine War: Russian missile hits the market in Kharkiv

Ukrainian officials said Monday a Russian missile hit a market in the Kharkiv region, killing one person and wounding several others.

The officials said the missile struck the village of Shevchenkove, located about 75 kilometers from the city of Kharkiv.

“We brutally condemn this act of terror,” Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova tweeted along with a video and photos of a large crater and a building in flames. “The only proper response is more weapons for Ukraine.”

Russia has repeatedly warned against Western military support for Ukraine, saying arms deliveries from the United States and Ukrainian partners in Europe would exacerbate the conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a briefing Monday that more Western weapons deliveries would “deepen the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine nearly 11 months ago, drawing a swift vote from an overwhelming majority of the U.N. General Assembly condemning the operation and demanding Russia withdraw its forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Sunday that the first week of the year brought no significant change along the frontline, but that heavy fighting continued in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskyy highlighted the fight for the city of Bakhmut, calling it “one of the bloodiest places on the frontline.” Ukraine’s military said in a statement Monday that Russia had sent reinforcements to the nearby city of Soledar as part of a “desperate attempt” to storm it.

Bakhmut was once a city of 70,000 people. It is now mostly abandoned, its reduced population kept alive by volunteers who help maintain invincibility centers, which are often tents set up to offer electricity, internet service, heat, water and medicine. (KB/VOA)