Russian strike on Kharkiv kills three, including 12-year-old

A 12-year-old was among at least three people killed after a Russian strike in Kharkiv late on Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

Authorities in Ukraine’s second-largest city said about 36 people sustained injuries following the 500-kilogramme Russian glided bomb attack on the residential building, causing massive damage.

“(The 12-year-old boy) was freed from under the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures. Doctors performed resuscitation measures for more than half an hour. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the child,” regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Emergency services said rescue operations were under way on Thursday, and their workers were assisting residents even as officials feared many could still be trapped under the rubble.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine released footage of rescue operations showing damage to the entrance to the impacted building.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack on Thursday and repeated his demand for Washington to allow Kyiv to use long-range US-supplied missiles to strike air bases deeper in Russia.

“Partners see what is happening every day. And under these conditions, each of their delayed decisions means at least dozens, if not hundreds, of such Russian bombs against Ukraine. Their decisions are the lives of our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on X following the attack.

“We must together stop Russia and do it with all possible force,” he said.

Russia has increasingly used powerful glide bombs to pummel Ukrainian positions and strike cities dozens of kilometres from the frontline.

Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million and about 30 kilometres from the border, has been hit severally by Russian strikes since the war broke out nearly three years ago.

In a separate attack, Russia on Thursday fired 10 missiles of various types at the Dnistro Estuary bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of the southern Odesa region, Ukraine’s air force said, adding that only two of them were intercepted.

Russian forces also fired 43 exploding drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions: 17 were shot down, 23 jammed, and three flew back to Russian-controlled territories, authorities said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine struck back with drone attacks. Authorities in the Russia-occupied city of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov reported a drone attack on the port early on Thursday, saying three people were injured.

Air defences downed about 21 Ukrainian drones over several regions and the Black Sea, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry. Euronews could not independently confirm these claims.