Slovenian consulate destroyed in Russian rocket attack in Kharkiv

No employees were injured in the attack

A view shows the area near the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile attack, in central Kharkiv (REUTERS)

The Slovenian consulate in Ukraine has been destroyed after a Russian military assault on the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.

Slovenia's foreign ministry said on Twitter that it condemned the act and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

No employees were injured in the attack, Slovenia’s STA news agency cited the ministry as saying.

Matti Maasikas, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine, tweeted saying the “Slovenian Consulate in Kharkiv was destroyed” in the attack.

On Tuesday, Russian forces rained rockets on the city of Kharkiv, killing at least 10 people and wounding 35 others, interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said earlier on in the day in a post on social media.

In the capital city of Kyiv, Russia warned residents to flee their homes as it threatened further strikes and bombed a television tower - killing five people.

A 40 mile-long armoured column continues to move toward Kyiv, but has been hampered by logistical problems and shortages of fuel and food.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg warned that a vast column of “heavy Russian armour” moving towards the capital would bring “more death, more suffering and more civilian casualties”.

Russian forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.

The first talks between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion were held Monday, but ended with only an agreement to talk again.

However Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia “must “first stop bombing people” before peace talks could make any headway.

He told CNN: “As for dialogue, I think yes, but stop bombarding people first and start negotiating afterwards.”

Additional reporting by agencies