Russian missile smashes museum in east Ukraine

Kyiv — Russian forces struck a museum in the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk during an attack on Tuesday, killing one person, wounding 10 and burying others under rubble, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“So far we know of a dead museum worker and 10 injured. There are more people under the rubble. The recovery from the shelling continues. All necessary agencies are involved,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram messenger.

The president’s chief of staff and the regional governor said the damage was caused by a Russian S-300 missile. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion that has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed cities.

Zelensky posted a video of a badly damaged building that had spewed out rubble and debris into the street. Its windows were smashed and a section of the wall and roof was destroyed.

Kupiansk, which had a pre-war population of 26,000, lies in Kharkiv region. It is a rail hub that was occupied by Russian forces for months after they invaded Ukraine in February, 2022.

Ukrainian forces chased them out of Kupiansk in a lightning counteroffensive in September that also recaptured the cities of Izium and Balakliia.

Reuters