Russia launched overnight drone and missile strikes across Ukraine, killing and wounding many people.
A ballistic missile struck a five-story residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing at least 10 people, including two children, and injuring 16 others. Rescuers searched the rubble for survivors, and several people were believed to remain trapped.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used 29 missiles, almost half ballistic, and 480 drones—most Iranian-designed Shaheds—during the attack. “There must be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life,” he said on X, calling for continued support to counter attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure.
Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said the wounded included boys aged six and 11 and a 17-year-old girl. Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two children were among the dead. He added that seven residential apartment blocks, commercial and administrative buildings, electricity distribution lines and cars were damaged in the city.
Zelenskyy said Russian strikes also targeted energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi and Chernivtsi regions, and hit a railway in Zhytomyr region. An air raid alert covered Ukraine during the night; neighboring Poland scrambled military aircraft to protect border airspace as a precaution.
Preliminary figures suggested Ukrainian air defenses shot down 19 missiles and 453 drones. Damage was reported in Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy and Cherkasy regions, with relevant services responding where needed.
In the east, one person was killed in Dnipropetrovsk region, and three people were wounded in Kyiv. A 24-year-old man died in his car in Sumy region after a Russian drone strike. Injuries were also reported in drone attacks in Zaporizhzhia and in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region. Rail infrastructure was damaged, forcing route changes across the center-west, Ukraine’s state rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia said.
Peace negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine have stalled amid the conflict in the Middle East that broke out a week ago after the US and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
