Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv kill six, including child, injure dozens
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At least 55 people were injured in Russia's guided bomb attack on a residential building in Ukraine's north-eastern city of Kharkiv.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV - Russian strikes killed at least six people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a 14-year-old girl at a playground, and wounded dozens more, officials said on Aug 30.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had dropped a guided bomb on the city, and urged Kyiv’s allies to take “strong decisions” to bolster his country’s air defence systems.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies around 40km from the Russian border and has been bombed persistently by Moscow’s forces since they launched their invasion in February 2022.
A multi-storey residential building and a children’s playground were among the sites hit in the strike.
“Unfortunately, the death toll has risen to six people,” Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said in a post on Telegram hours after the attack.
A 14-year-old girl was among those killed, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.
An AFP journalist in the city reported hearing loud explosions ringing out during the attack on the afternoon of Aug 30.
Medics and emergency services were working at the scenes.
At least 55 people were wounded, Mr Klymenko said.
Cars burning after an air strike by Russia on Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Kharkiv.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Unverified images circulating on social media showed large plumes of grey smoke billowing from a Soviet-era residential building and a blaze ripping through the upper floors.
“We need strong decisions from our partners to stop this terror,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
“We need long-range capabilities,” he added, referring to Kyiv’s appeals to allies to lift restrictions on the use of Western-supplied missiles inside Russian territory and deliver more longer-range weapons. “We need the implementation of air defence agreements for Ukraine. This is about saving lives.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly said its forces do not target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, despite widespread documentation of civilian and residential areas being hit in aerial bombardments.
Moscow’s forces tried to capture Kharkiv in the early stages of their invasion but were pushed back. They launched a fresh ground offensive in the Kharkiv region in May, capturing some villages close to the countries’ shared border.
Russian strikes earlier on Aug 30 in the neighbouring region of Sumy
