Russian strike on Ukraine's Kharkiv injures 25, Moscow denies attack took place

KYIV, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Friday, leaving the building in ruins and injuring at least 25 people, officials said, but Russia denied that an attack had taken place.

Photographs and videos posted online showed smoke rising from an area of vast destruction, with emergency crews making their way through rubble and large chunks of building materials.

"Missile strikes in central Kharkiv have nearly destroyed a five-storey dwelling," Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov told Ukrainian television, saying that according to preliminary information two ballistic missiles had struck the area.

"Rescue teams are on site. They are primarily clearing rubble and searching for people underneath."

Syniehubov said 25 people were injured, with 16 in hospital, including a woman in serious condition. He said customers may have been at shops and a cafe on the building's first floor when the explosion occurred.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov put the casualty toll at 30 injured.

Russia's Defence Ministry, writing on Telegram, said reports of an attack were untrue and suggested the blast at the site had been caused by the detonation of Ukrainian ammunition.

"Published video footage seconds before the explosion shows thick smoke of unknown origin which, to a high probability, would indicate that a detonation of stored Ukrainian military ammunition occurred at the 'Persona' shopping centre," it said.

The ministry said the reports sought to distract world attention from a New Year's Eve strike, which it blamed on Ukraine, on a hotel in a Russian-held part of Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

The area's Russia-installed governor, Vladimir Saldo, told TASS news agency on Friday that the death toll in that incident had risen to 28.

Located 30 km (18 miles) from the border, Kharkiv withstood Russian advances in the early weeks of Russia's February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.

With Russia's forces focused since on capturing eastern regions of the country, the city has been a constant target of aerial attacks.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Ron Popeski and Gareth Jones)