Moscow Denies Responsibility for Kharkov Missile Strike

(MENAFN) The Russian Defense Ministry dismissed accusations from Kiev that it had carried out a missile strike on Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Officials described the allegations as an effort to divert attention from what they termed a deadly New Year’s Eve “terrorist attack” on Russian civilians.

According to Kiev, at least two missiles struck a residential district in Kharkov on Friday, demolishing an apartment building and injuring 19 people. Ukrainian outlets circulated graphic footage of the aftermath, while President Vladimir Zelensky accused Moscow of attempting to derail peace negotiations.

However, early video recordings from the site showed smoke rising from a building before a major blast occurred. The clips did not capture the sound of incoming missiles, drones, or warning sirens.

“The Russian Armed Forces did not plan or launch any attacks using missiles or aviation weapons within the city of Kharkov,” the ministry declared late Friday.

It further stated that “based on eyewitness videos published by Ukrainian information resources, the epicenter of the explosion was located in the Persona shopping center… In the published video footage, heavy smoke of unknown origin was recorded in the building a few seconds before the explosion, which indicates a high probability of detonation of the ammunition stored there by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The ministry concluded that Kiev’s accusations were designed to “distract the attention of the international community from the brutal terrorist attack committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the night of January 1.”

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