Medics walk outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile attack, in central Kharkiv, Ukraine March 1, 2022. — Reuters pic
KHARKIV (Ukraine), March 11 – Russian planes bombed an institute in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv that is home to an experimental nuclear reactor and a neighbouring hostel is on fire, a senior Ukrainian official said yesterday.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs, said in an online post that the Institute of Physics and Technology contained “sources of radiation used for scientific purposes”.
The Interfax Ukraine news agency said the fire service was extinguishing a blaze in a five-story hostel which covered a total of 100 square metres (1,100 square feet).
The Ukrainian parliament’s official website had earlier said fighting close to the institute was continuing.
Russian forces last week captured the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia after an attack during which an adjacent training facility was set on fire. – Reuters