(Updated) In photos: Russia hits Kharkiv printing house with missile during work shift, kills 7, injures 20 

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, May 23 — At about 10:25 a.m., Russia attacked Kharkiv and Kharkiv suburbs with 15 missiles, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 in the Osnovianskyi district of the city.

Russia often attacks Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is 19 miles from the state border, targeting civilian and critical infrastructure. The attacks intensified since the Russians began their new ground offensive north and northeast of the Kharkiv region on May 10. 

Russian massive missile attack on Kharkiv on May 23 killed seven people and injured at least 17. / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

“It’s a printing fabric. Notebooks, books were printed here. Sadly, it was a work shift when the [missile] hit, preliminary, S-300 missile,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. On this impact site, the fire in the aftermath of the strike spread to nearly 500 square meters, but was localized. 

According to Vivat, the publisher company, this Russian missile attack destroyed Faktor-Druk’s manufacturing facility. 

Russian missile strike on Kharkiv on May 23 destroyed one of the largest printing houses in Europe, according to Ukrainian publisher Vivat / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

“It’s one of the largest full-cycle [printing houses] in Europe, so not only Vivat’s books but also the books of all Ukrainian publishers are being printed there,” Vivat’s representatives wrote on their Facebook page. 

Terekhov said that today, Russians hit Kharkiv’s Kholodnohirskyi districts, too, damaging local transport infrastructure. The investigators are still establishing the exact weapon type. 

Printing house in Kharkiv damaged during a massive Russian missile attack on May 23 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Rescuers and municipal workers are working at the impact sites.  

The book is called Клуб врятованих (“The Club of Rescued”). Russian missile strike on Kharkiv on May 23 destroyed one of the largest printing houses in Europe, according to Ukrainian publisher Vivat / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Cover photo: Emergency service workers are putting out the fire that caught the printing house in Kharkiv in the aftermath of the Russian massive missile attack on Kharkiv on May 23 / Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

UPD from May 23, 5:53 p.m.: Inconsistency in the text fixed, updated numbers of casualties of the Russian attack added to the lead paragraph.

Ivan Samoilov and Daria Lobanok worked for you on this story — thank you for reading it. Please consider supporting our reporting on Patreon, BMC, or PayPal to strengthen our Kharkiv-based newsroom and our efforts of showing the world what Russia does to our home.

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