Ukrainian officials have said Turkish journalists were among the 13 people who were injured when two Russian missiles hit a hotel in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv on Wednesday evening, the state-run Anadolu news agency and Agence France-Presse reported.
Oleh Synehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, said the injured included Turkish journalists. Two S-300 missiles struck at about 22:30 (20:30 GMT), he said.
Photos from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed the hotel heavily damaged and firefighters at the scene.
“Thirteen people were injured,” including a Turkish citizen and a Georgian, the prosecutor general’s office in Kharkiv said.
One of the wounded is in “very serious condition,” he said, adding that “Turkish journalists are among the victims.”
Anadolu announced that it was its reporters who were staying at the hotel at the time of the strikes, adding that the reporters were able to vacate the hotel unhurt.
It said the affected journalists were Anadolu reporter Davit Kachkachishvili and photojournalist Özge Elif Kızıl. Kachkachishvili sustained some cuts on his hands.
A hotel where Anadolu reporters covering war in Ukraine are staying targeted by missiles
Attacks carried out around in city of Kharkiv near border with Russia in eastern Ukraine
Anadolu correspondent Davit Kachkachishvili reports from Kharkiv, Ukraine ⤵️ https://t.co/yi3sGzRLQY pic.twitter.com/RZRSSimako
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) January 11, 2024
Kachkachishvili, speaking in Turkish in a short video posted on Anadolu’s X account, said the team’s car was also damaged in the attack and they were ordered to leave the area.
The strikes on Wednesday evening came as both Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of inflicting dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks.
Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian cities in the past two weeks.
Ukrainian officials say dozens of civilians have died in those attacks from drones and missiles.