A DIY store with an estimated 200 people inside has been struck by Russian missiles in Kharkiv.

Ihor Terekhov, Kharkiv’s mayor, said that the missile strike had killed at least two people, with four people missing and 33 people wounded.

“Judging by everything, the attack was aimed at the shopping centre, where there were many people. This is pure terrorism,” he said.

Video showed flames and smoke pouring out of a large building and a body covered by a foil blanket lying in a car park.

Russian forces launched a cross-border attack north of Kharkiv earlier in May. 

Vladimir Putin has denied that he wants to capture the city but Russia has intensified its missile attacks and analysts have said that he may want to turn Kharkiv into an uninhabitable wasteland.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Kharkiv after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 but many returned later that year after Russian soldiers routed from the edge of the city.

An hour after announcing the mid-afternoon attack on the shopping centre, Mr Terekhov also said that a Russian missile had hit a city centre park.

“Another blow just hit Central Park. Information about victims and destruction is being clarified,” he said.

Overnight, reports also said that four Russian missiles had struck the city, although there were no reports of casualties. On Thursday, a Russian missile attack on a printing house in Kharkiv killed seven people.

Volodymyr Zelensky blamed slow weapon supplies from the West for the attacks.

“If Ukraine had enough air defence and modern combat aircraft, such Russian strikes would simply be impossible,” he said in a video message on his Telegram channel.

Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of Nato, backed calls to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with US-made missiles.

In an interview with the Economist, he said that Nato countries needed to do more to help Ukraine, although he ruled out deploying Nato soldiers.

“Denying Ukraine the ability to use these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it much more difficult for it to defend its territory,” he said.

Ukrainian forces have complained that they have to stand and watch as Russian troops line up behind the border ahead of their attacks towards Kharkiv.

Britain has given Ukraine permission to fire its missiles at targets inside Russia but the US has said that this risks escalating the war and has banned it.