As part of a persistent onslaught that occurred as Ukraine was preparing its soldiers for an anticipated spring counteroffensive, a Russian missile struck a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing one of its employees and injuring 10 others.
According to Ukrainian officials, the local history museum in Kupiansk, which is in the Kharkiv region, was struck by S-300 air defense missiles fired by the Russian military during the raid.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, shared a video from the scene showing the demolished structure and emergency personnel assessing the damage.
“The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely,” Zelenskyy said. “Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.”
Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized, seven received minor injuries and two others were still believed to be under the debris. Emergency responders were working to recover them.
Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region.
A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.
The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West.
Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a “landmark battle in Ukraine’s modern history” that will see the country “reclaim significant areas.”