UPD from May 25, 9:17 p.m.: Local officials inform on updated number of victims of Russian strike: glide bomb attacks killed at least four and injured at least 38 people.

More details will be added to the story as it develops (and as the fire in the hypermarket is put out.) 

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, May 25 — At about 4:00 p.m., Russia hit a hypermarket in Kharkiv’s residential district with two gliding bombs, killing at least four and injuring at least 38 people. The rescue operation is ongoing. The fire in the aftermath of a strike took over at least 15,000 square meters, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleg Syniehubov and Gwara Media reporters. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted about the attack on his Telegram channel, saying that over 200 people could have been in the “Epicenter” hypermarket during the day on the weekend. He called the attack “another manifestation of Russian madness.” 

Oleksandr Filchakov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, told Gwara Media that establishing the accurate number of casualties is impossible before the fire is put out. Filchakov reports Russia hit the city with modified gliding bombs (UMPB D-30).  

He has also confirmed that over 200 people have been inside before the attack. 

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that at least four people who have been inside the hypermarket are currently missing. 

At about 5:00 p.m., about an hour later after the attack on the hypermarket, Russia hit Kharkiv’s Central Park with another glide bomb. No casualties have been reported as of yet. 

Russia attacks Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city 19 miles from the state border, and its suburbs frequently — even more so since the beginning of their new ground offensive from north and northeast of the Kharkiv region on May 10. 

Gwara Media’s reporters are currently working at the impact site, covering the aftermath of this attack. Please, consider supporting our Kharkiv-based newsroom on Patreon, BMC, or PayPal.  

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