Russian Missile Hits Administration Building In Southern Ukraine, Twelve Civilians Killed

The administrative building in Mykolaiv, Ukraine that was hit by a Russian missile attack. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - A Russian rocket hit the regional administration building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 33, authorities said.

Injured people were pulled from the rubble by rescue workers, who were continuing to work at the scene, emergency services said in an online post.

Footage from state rescue services showed a gaping hole in the side of the building, with firefighters putting out the fire where the rocket hit and the injured being loaded onto ambulance stretchers.

There were visible bloodstains on the rubble, while broken glass and overturned furniture littered the office floor inside the building.

"This was just a nightmare. A girl died on my floor. What can I say? Are you kidding me? I hugged her, two minutes passed, and she was gone," said a woman who was helped out of the building by rescuers.

"They destroyed half the building, hit my office," said regional governor Vitaliy Kim.

Officers evacuate victims from the administration building in Mykolaiv that was hit by a Russian missile. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

Russian troops have attacked southern Ukrainian ports including Kherson, Odessa, Mykolaiv, and Mariupol as they try to cut Ukraine off the Black Sea, establishing a land corridor from Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Russia captured in 2014.

Kim said there was a positive side to the attack, suggesting that Russia had given up trying to take over the city.

Describing the attack, Natalia Novikova, 57, an employee in the health department at the local government, said it was "very noisy, people were very scared. People all ran into the hallway and some were still sitting there because they were still scared. After that, the sirens (air raids) went off."

Russia has described its actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation" to disarm its neighbors. They deny targeting civilians and do not comment on the Mykolaiv attack.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and the West say Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion that has been going on since February 24.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations who met in Istanbul, Turkey, brought good news, to defuse the escalation that occurred. Russia promised to reduce its military operations, while Ukraine proposed a neutral status without a political-military alliance.