LONDON — Russian drone strikes and bombs killed at least three people in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight, regional officials there said, even though Moscow’s latest drone and missile barrage elsewhere was significantly smaller than preceding nights.
Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second largest city with a pre-war population of around 1.4 million — sits just 20 miles from the Russian border.
One person was also killed and another injured by Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region, officials said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning.
The governor of Russia’s western Belgorod region said six people were also injured by a Ukrainian drone strike on a factory in the town of Shebekino.
LONDON — Although Moscow’s most recent drone and missile assault elsewhere was much less intense than previous nights, regional officials in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv reported that Russian drone strikes and bombs killed at least three people there overnight.
Russian attacks overnight, including the use of Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, first-person view commercial-style drones, and KAB guided bombs, injured 56 more people, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote in a post on Telegram.
Terekhov said that the damage was “enormous,” affecting over 103 residential buildings. “..”.
Situated just 20 miles from the Russian border, Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine, home to approximately 11.4 million people before the war. Because of its close proximity, the city has been under heavy bombardment during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Along with Moscow’s recent expansion of its drone and missile campaign, Kharkiv has also been the target of intense attacks. Russian forces are said to have gathered along the neighboring border and are threatening further incursions.
Regarding the strikes in Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated: “Violent Russian strikes are now occurring every day, and nearly all of them are indicative. Since every setback to everyday life demonstrates that pressure is insufficient, Russia deserves more pressure. Not to worry, we shouldn’t put off making new decisions that might make things more difficult for Russia. “.”.
“Without this, they will not go for real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy continued. This is largely dependent on the United States and other global leaders. All those who advocated for diplomacy and an end to the killings must take action. “.”.
Local officials posted on Telegram that Russian shelling in the southern Kherson region injured at least five people on Tuesday night. In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian shelling also claimed one life and injured another, according to officials.
Russia launched 85 drones and one missile into Ukraine overnight, according to the country’s air force, with 49 of the drones being shot down or otherwise neutralized. The air force reported that impacts were detected in 14 locations and that drone debris fell in two more.
Speaking with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Zelenskyy posted on Telegram on Tuesday night, stating that he had discussed “our efforts to counter drones, protect against missiles, and reinforce our air defense.”. Following the massive Russian attack on cities, including Kyiv, on Monday night, the meeting was held.
Regarding Monday night’s attacks, Zelenskyy declared, “The Russians have once again used ballistic missiles from North Korea.”. Additionally, we are monitoring evidence of the spread of drone technologies from Russia and Iran to North Korea. Europe as well as East and Southeast Asia are in grave danger because of this. “.”.
Zelenskyy continued, “Warfare technologies will advance and the threat to everyone will increase the longer this war rages on our territory.”. “This needs to be fixed immediately, before thousands of upgraded Shahed drones and ballistic missiles start posing a threat to Tokyo and Seoul. “,”.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its troops destroyed 33 Ukrainian drones between Wednesday morning and overnight.
Acting governor Evgeny Pervyshov posted on Telegram that falling drone debris caused a fire to start in the town of Kotovsk in Russia’s Tambov region, which is about 260 miles southeast of Moscow and 230 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory. Pervyshov wrote, “The situation is under control.”.
But in a Telegram post, Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center run by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, claimed that drones had struck an explosives plant nearby.
According to Kovalenko, the strike had forced the Tambov gunpowder plant to halt its operations. Regarding the facility, he stated, “It produces gunpowder used for various types of small arms, artillery, and rocket systems.”.
Kovalenko went on, “The company is one of the major suppliers of explosives for the Russian army.”. “Since the start of the full-scale conflict in Ukraine, the plant’s output has dramatically increased. “.”.
A Ukrainian drone attack on a factory in the town of Shebekino also injured six people, according to the governor of Russia’s western Belgorod region. The governor posted on Telegram that everyone was in the hospital.
This report was contributed by Ellie Kaufman and Oleksiy Pshemyskiy of ABC News.
