Russian drone, missile strike kill 3, 21 injured in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia

Kyiv: A large Russian drone-and-missile attack targeted eastern  Ukrainian city of  Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near daily wide scale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war.

The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia.

---

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight. Ukrainian air defences shot down and neutralized 87 drones and seven missiles. Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.

“To put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,” he said. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the latest attack.

Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was “the most powerful attack” on the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half old boy and a 14-year old girl, he added.

The attack on Kharkiv came just a day after Russia launched one of its fiercest barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least six people and injuring around 80.  The dead included three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two  in Chernihiv.

US President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine’s attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday.

Trump also said that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before initiating peace efforts. Trump’s comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signaled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts.