A missile struck a distribution center in eastern Ukraine late on Saturday night, resulting in the tragic loss of six postal workers' lives and leaving 14 others injured.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine reported on Telegram that the Nova Poshta sorting office in Kharkiv had been targeted. Photographs shared on President Zelensky's account depicted the building with shattered windows.

Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, confirmed that the casualties were all employees of the postal company. In his own Telegram message, Mr. Syniehubov disclosed that the victims' ages ranged from 19 to 42, with some sustaining shrapnel injuries in the explosion.

He said the private delivery company was "strictly a civilian site".

"The Russians have inflicted more terror on Kharkiv's peaceful population," he added.

President Zelensky said a rescue operation was continuing, with emergency services working at the scene.

Russia has not yet commented on the alleged strike but has previously denied targeting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Syniehubov said seven people were in the hospital in a "moderate condition" and seven men were in a "serious condition".

Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second-largest city, is located only 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border.

The north-eastern city was heavily bombed during the first weeks of the war in February 2022.

Earlier this month, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Ukraine's first underground school would be built in the city to allow children to continue in-person education safely.

Meanwhile, in the south, Ukraine has been waging a counter-offensive campaign since June.

The war-torn country aims to sever Russia's land corridor to the Crimean peninsula - which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

But the counter-offensive has so far proven slow, bringing only limited territorial gains.

Too bad