Russian strike on Kharkiv hits residential buildings, at least two dead

At least two people were killed and several others injured in a Russian attack launched this morning against Kharkiv, in Ukraine. The strikes, carried out with bombs and drones, hit the Saltivskyi district, an area of multi-storey apartment blocks. One of the injured was rushed to hospital: their condition is considered serious.

The picture of what happened came together step by step over the course of the morning, through messages issued by the city and regional authorities. An enemy attack had been recorded in the Saltivskyi district, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram, reporting the bombardment of residential buildings. According to the information gathered by the mayor, buildings of seven to ten storeys were destroyed. In the first hours, the number of casualties and their condition were still being established, as the mayor himself noted.

Shortly afterwards, Terekhov reported a second strike in the same neighbourhood. The enemy had hit a nearby high-rise, he added in his message. His accusation is explicit: Russian forces are deliberately targeting residential buildings.

The authorities’ toll

Official confirmation of the casualties came from Oleg Synegubov, who heads the regional military administration of Kharkiv. In an initial report, Synegubov noted the presence of a body at the site of the attack. In a later update, he said that a second person had been killed in the district and that another had been rushed to hospital with serious injuries. One of the two victims, the regional chief specified, was killed by an attack carried out with an enemy drone.

Investigations by the Ukrainian authorities are still under way and the information gathered so far is subject to further checks. The toll from the attack is therefore not final and may still change in the coming hours.