Esperanto: SOWING DESTRUCTION Twelve kids among 38 civilians hit in horrifying hypersonic missile attack on Ukraine apartment block

Published: 19:13, 4 Jul 2023

TWELVE children and babies were among the 38 civilians wounded in a Russian missile strike that hit an apartment block in northeastern Ukraine today.

The hypersonic wave of missiles allegedly targeted a soldier's funeral in the Kharkiv region where around 100 people had gathered to pay their respects, an army official said.

The high-rise apartment block was ablaze after the missile strike that left 38 woundedCredit: Twitter

An army official claimed that the strike targeted a funeral of a soldierCredit: Getty

Twelve children including three babies were reportedly wounded in the blastCredit: Getty

The missile hit a parking lot near a multi-story building in a residential neighbourhoodCredit: Getty

Television footage captured the brutal aftermath of the strike as a huge fire engulfed the shattered high-rise building in the small town of Pervomaiskyi.

Emergency service workers were seen rushing towards the tall building with its smashed exterior as heavy plumes of black smoke poured out.

Mangled cars were in flames nearby and a man sat in an ambulance with blood over his face as the wounded were quickly bandaged up at the scene.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said an "Iskander" missile had slammed into a residential quarter of Pervomaiskyi at 1.35p.m.

"We weren't at home, we went for a walk in the park. I don't know what happened, I heard an explosion, probably a missile," local resident Alla said on the street as she hugged her granddaughter.

"I only remember that when the explosion sounded, we were thrown up into the air. Then we continued walking, we saw blown out windows everywhere, I saw cars on fire.

"I just can't get a grip of myself, my legs are still shaking."

Prosecutors said the youngest of the 38 people hurt in the attack was a child of three months. The child's condition is currently not known.

Two other babies - aged 10 months and one year - were also said to have been wounded.

About 100 people were gathering at a funeral near the Palace of Culture in Pervomaiskyi, some of them in uniform and some in civilian clothes.

Major Maksym Zhorin, a former commander of in the Azov battalion, said the town was hit at the beginning of the funeral of Oleh Fadeenko.

The fallen soldier, who had the call-sign "Baby", had been killed in combat near the ruined and besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

"They targeted the site where the ceremony was taking place," Zhorin claimed on the Telegram.

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack.

Moscow has relentlessly denied deliberately targeting civilians but its missile and drone attacks have repeatedly struck cities across Ukraine since the start of the invasion.

Meanwhile, Ukraine today unleashed a daring kamikaze drone attack on a military base far behind enemy lines near Moscow.

Dramatic footage shows thick black smoke billowing in the air after the strike at the key Kubinka military air base, some 48 miles southwest of the Kremlin.

The strike prompted Russian authorities to briefly close one of the city's main airports, although they claim to have foiled the attack.