The death toll in a Russian attack on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv on Friday has risen to six, with at least 55 people injured, local authorities said.
Russian guided bombs hit a residential building and a playground, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Among the victims was a girl present at the playground, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
More people were killed in a 12-story apartment block that caught fire as a result of the strike, he added.
A video from the site showed huge flames and heavy black smoke rising from the upper floors of the building.
One end of the block was engulfed in black smoke, with many of the upper floors in flames. Several cars parked outside were gutted by fire.
Emergency services and rescue volunteers rushed to carry survivors out of the building. A body of one of the victims lay under a carpet outside on the ground, surrounded by police.
Among the victims was a girl present at the playground, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
More people were killed in a 12-story apartment block that caught fire as a result of the strike, he added.
A video from the site showed huge flames and heavy black smoke rising from the upper floors of the building.
One end of the block was engulfed in black smoke, with many of the upper floors in flames. Several cars parked outside were gutted by fire.
Emergency services and rescue volunteers rushed to carry survivors out of the building. A body of one of the victims lay under a carpet outside on the ground, surrounded by police.
Residents of all ages, some of them covered in blood, sat stunned on benches and walls outside as medics attended to their injuries.
The authorities did not give details of the circumstances in which the two other people died in the strikes, which had hit four areas of the city.
Kharkiv has been the focus of heavy Russian bombing throughout the war, although there had been a drop in intensity in recent weeks, possibly related to the shock incursion launched by Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian authorities said that Friday’s attack involved five aerial guided bombs launched from planes in Russia’s Belgorod region, also known as ‘glide bombs’ which are fitted with a navigation system taking them to their targets.
The weapons are hard to intercept and they have become a fearsome tool in the war in eastern Ukraine in recent months that can cause huge devastation.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed a call on Western allies to allow long-range attacks on Russian military air bases using Western-provided weapons after the Friday attack.
“A strike ... would not have happened if our defense forces had the ability to destroy Russian military aircraft where they are based,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “There is no rational reason to restrict Ukraine’s defenses.”
Kyiv says that the most effective way to counter such strikes is to target Russian planes, not the bombs themselves.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and wounded in its strikes during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has now lasted a full two years-and-a-half.
The authorities did not give details of the circumstances in which the two other people died in the strikes, which had hit four areas of the city.
Kharkiv has been the focus of heavy Russian bombing throughout the war, although there had been a drop in intensity in recent weeks, possibly related to the shock incursion launched by Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian authorities said that Friday’s attack involved five aerial guided bombs launched from planes in Russia’s Belgorod region, also known as ‘glide bombs’ which are fitted with a navigation system taking them to their targets.
The weapons are hard to intercept and they have become a fearsome tool in the war in eastern Ukraine in recent months that can cause huge devastation.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed a call on Western allies to allow long-range attacks on Russian military air bases using Western-provided weapons after the Friday attack.
“A strike ... would not have happened if our defense forces had the ability to destroy Russian military aircraft where they are based,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “There is no rational reason to restrict Ukraine’s defenses.”
Kyiv says that the most effective way to counter such strikes is to target Russian planes, not the bombs themselves.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and wounded in its strikes during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has now lasted a full two years-and-a-half.
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