Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has issued an urgent video appeal calling on world leaders to join a “peace summit” in Switzerland next month following a devastating Russian attack on a DIY hypermarket in Kharkiv, which resulted in at least 16 deaths and numerous injuries.
Zelenskiy specifically called upon US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to attend the summit scheduled to begin on June 15.
“Please, show your leadership in advancing the peace – the real peace and not just a pause between the strikes,” Zelenskiy pleaded in English.
While Biden has yet to confirm his attendance, and China’s participation remains uncertain, negotiations are ongoing, according to Zelenskiy’s aide Mykhailo Podolyak, who mentioned this in an interview last week.
The deadly strike in Kharkiv capped a week marked by relentless Russian missile and air assaults on Ukraine’s second-largest city, targeting a variety of non-military sites including a printing house, residential areas, and a central park.
Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, reported that around 120 people were inside the hypermarket at the time of the attack.
“The attack targeted the shopping centre, where there were many people.
This is clearly terrorism,” he stated.
Prosecutors reported that at least 16 people perished, with 10 still unidentified, and 43 others were injured.
Over 10 individuals remain missing.
Another missile strike later that evening hit a residential building, injuring 18 people, as reported by the regional governor.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its efforts to destabilize Kharkiv, a city located 20 miles from the Ukrainian border, with a pre-war population exceeding a million.
Despite ongoing attacks, the city continues to function under the constant threat of daily strikes.
The city’s proximity to the border allows Russian fighter jets to launch glide bombs from within Russian territory.
Ukrainian officials have emphasized the need for improved air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets to protect Kharkiv.
The region has also been a focal point of a recent Russian offensive, especially around the town of Vovchansk, displacing thousands of residents.
Russia claims its assaults on the Kharkiv region are intended to establish a “buffer zone” to prevent Ukrainian forces from attacking Russian border areas.
The Saturday strike targeted a popular suburban shopping complex.
The director of the store, Andriy Kudinov, told local media the store was crowded with shoppers.
Eyewitnesses recounted chaotic scenes at the supermarket.
“I was at my workplace.
I heard the first hit and … with my colleague, we fell to the ground.
There was the second hit and we were covered with debris.
Then we started to crawl to the higher ground,” Dmytro Syrotenko, 26, told Reuters, bearing a large cut on his face.
The strike ignited a fire, sending thick black smoke into the sky above the shopping center.
Rescuers faced significant danger as secondary strikes targeting first responders have become a common tactic in recent Russian attacks.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported over the weekend that Russia had launched nearly 10,000 guided air bombs against Ukraine this year alone.
“Our country needs more modern air defense systems and aviation.
We talk about it with our allies every day and at every opportunity,” he wrote on Facebook.
On Sunday, Zelenskiy stated that the Kharkiv attack further demonstrated Russia’s disinterest in peace.
“We all know who we are dealing with.
Russia is run by men who want to make it a norm – burning lives, destroying cities and villages, dividing people and erasing national borders through war.
There is no nation that can stop such a war alone,” he said.
Zelenskiy announced that more than 80 countries had confirmed their attendance at the Swiss summit.
Russia has not been invited and has dismissed the event as futile.
The summit aims to rally a coalition to call on Moscow to end the war, focusing particularly on countries in the global south that have remained neutral.
Podolyak revealed that Zelenskiy has been reaching out to numerous global south leaders, especially in Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific region, to persuade them to attend the summit.
“Russians are trying everything to discredit the idea and to offer incentives for not attending,” Podolyak stated, indicating the diplomatic tussle surrounding the summit.
China, which has tacitly supported Russia, is considered unlikely to attend, although Ukrainian diplomats continue their efforts to engage Beijing.
China has proposed its own peace plan, which Ukrainian officials deem impractical.
“The Chinese formula is to either force the capitulation of Ukraine, or to freeze the conflict on Russia’s terms,” Podolyak explained.
“China is the key country [for us], because as soon as you change its position from neutral and disinterested to neutral but fair, then pressure on Russia will start to rise,” he added.
A report by Reuters on Friday cited anonymous sources in Moscow suggesting Vladimir Putin might be seeking a ceasefire.
“Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire – to freeze the war,” one source claimed.
Ukrainian and Western officials remain skeptical of such claims, emphasizing that any attempt to freeze the conflict without genuine security guarantees for Ukraine would be ineffective.
