WATCH: Three killed in rocket strike on Mykolaiv region headquarters in southern Ukraine

At least three people were killed and 22 wounded on Tuesday when a rocket struck the regional administration building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, the Ukrainian emergencies service said.

An image showed a large hole in the side of the building. On Tuesday, Reuters witnesses saw the destruction from a distance and ambulances and fire engines heading to the scene. The area was cordoned off by Ukrainian authorities.

Russian forces have attacked Ukraine’s southern ports including Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Mariupol as they try to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea and establish a land corridor from Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized in 2014.

“They destroyed half of the building, got into my office,” Kim said. “The entire supply of IQOS (electronic cigarettes) was lost.”

“Most (people) miraculously escaped – eight civilians are now under the rubble and we hope that (they) will be pulled out,” he said, adding three military personnel were also trapped.

Kim said there was an upside to the strike – it suggested Russia had given up trying to take over the city.

via Reuters

Image via Oleg Novihov Twitter