A Russian drone attack on the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, late on Friday night resulted in the loss of seven lives, including three children. The attack, which targeted civilian infrastructure, set off fires and caused significant damage to residential areas in the eastern part of the city.
Oleh Synehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, reported that the strikes damaged at least 15 residential houses, leading to the tragic deaths of three children aged seven, four, and a baby approximately six months old. The attack also left three people wounded.
The Ukrainian air force responded by shooting down 23 of the 31 drones launched by Russian forces, which were aimed at the Kharkiv region in the northeast and also the Odesa region in the south. Despite these efforts, the destruction in Kharkiv was severe, with Oleksandr Filchakov, the head of the local prosecutor’s office, revealing that three drones struck a petrol station in the Nemyshlianskyi district, causing a massive fire due to the abundant fuel.
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine February 10, 2024.
Emergency services worked tirelessly through the night to manage the aftermath, extinguishing fires and navigating through debris. In a separate incident, Russian drones targeted a restaurant in Velykyi Berluk, a town approximately 100 kilometers from Kharkiv, although no casualties were reported there.
The details of these attacks could not be independently verified, and Russia has not commented on the incident. The Russian government has previously stated it does not deliberately target civilian sites.
Kharkiv has faced continuous assaults since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with recent weeks seeing a spike in attacks. Meanwhile, in the Black Sea port of Odesa, another drone attack injured one individual, adding to the toll of the ongoing conflict.
