A Russian military strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has injured at least 22 people, including children, less than a day after eight people were killed in attacks nationwide. The attack underscores the escalating violence as diplomatic efforts to end the war remain stalled.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekov said on his Telegram account that a guided Russian aerial bomb hit an apartment block early on Monday, destroying two floors of the multistorey building. He said six children were among the injured. The strike is part of a broader pattern of attacks across Ukraine.
Russian attacks were also reported across Ukraine on Sunday. Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Vyhivskyi said three people, including a 16-year-old girl, were killed in air strikes that damaged a children's centre in the northern city of Sumy. Authorities in the Odesa region said a "massive strike" on the south of the Black Sea region killed one person and damaged residential buildings, a shop, a hotel, a medical building, and a grain warehouse.
In the capital, Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a woman and two 16-year-olds were injured and hospitalised. "The enemy continues to relentlessly attack the Kyiv region with strike drones," the city's administration said. "Sixteen sites have been damaged", including 12 houses, a warehouse and a production facility, it added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that three people were killed in strikes in the southern Zaporizhia region and that a Russian drone strike had killed one man in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said in a post on his X account that Russia had launched more than 2,200 attack drones, 1,630 aerial bombs and 38 missiles of various types against Ukraine in the past week. "If Russia were truly preparing for any real steps towards de-escalation, as it claims, particularly to American negotiators, this wave of Shahed terror would not be happening," Zelenskyy said, referring to the Iran-developed drones Moscow has used against Ukraine. The claims could not be independently verified.
In Moscow, Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had bombed a Kyivstar data centre in Kyiv and another belonging to the Omega Telecom company. It said that the firms were providing services to the Ukrainian army. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov told the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday that Moscow intended to continue its military campaign "to the end".
Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar region on Monday, according to local reports. Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ published footage of a large fire and identified the facility as the Pavlovskaya oil depot. No injuries have been reported so far. Ukraine has intensified its targeting of Russian oil infrastructure in recent weeks.
United States-led talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have failed to produce a breakthrough, and the UN has highlighted the growing civilian toll. Both sides deny targeting civilians. The international community remains divided on how to pressure Moscow, with the European regime's sanctions allegedly failing to deter further aggression.
Source: www.aljazeera.com