Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, has suffered its most devastating attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, following an overnight onslaught involving drones, guided bombs, and missiles.
According to city officials, at least three people were killed and more than 20 others injured, including a baby and a 14-year-old girl.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov described the strike as the “most powerful” on the city since February 2022, calling it “open terror.” He said Russia launched 48 drones, two missiles, and four gliding bombs toward the city in a concentrated barrage that lasted about 90 minutes before dawn.
The intensity of the bombardment was staggering, with over 40 explosions reported within that short window. Preliminary reports indicate that 18 apartment blocks and 13 private homes were damaged, with visuals from the scene showing high-rise buildings engulfed in flames and residents scrambling to safety.
The horror extended beyond Kharkiv. In Kherson, a southern Ukrainian city, officials confirmed that a married couple in their 50s died when a residential building was struck by Russian shelling.
The overnight attacks were part of a larger, coordinated wave that targeted several regions across Ukraine. Andrii Sybiha, a senior official at Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said that “hundreds of drones and missiles rained down” on the country, affecting areas including Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil, and Odesa.
He emphasized that people were killed and injured and that energy infrastructure had also been hit. He urged the international community to increase pressure on Moscow and provide more support to Ukraine to bring an end to the destruction.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted with growing frustration, accusing Western leaders of complicity through inaction.
He has voiced particular concern over comments made by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who recently claimed that a Ukrainian attack on Russian airbases had given Putin a reason to “bomb the hell out of them.”
Zelensky condemned the ongoing violence as more than warfare, describing it as deliberate terror and calling on the global community to stand against it with real action.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the latest strikes, though Russian officials have repeatedly justified attacks as responses to alleged Ukrainian provocations, a narrative that Kyiv and its allies dismiss as baseless.
As Kharkiv reels from the devastation, Mayor Terekhov continues to provide updates, warning that the city’s resilience is being pushed to its limits.
He called the attack a clear attempt to annihilate civilian life, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced air defenses and humanitarian support.
The scale and intensity of the assault mark a dangerous new chapter in the war, with Kharkiv once again at the center of Russia’s military aggression.
Source: BBC
