Russian airstrikes hit Kharkiv for first time since 2022

Russia on Wednesday struck the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs for the first time since 2022, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, local officials said, adding that their forces had shot down 26 out of 28 attack drones launched overnight.

The airstrikes caused widespread damage, hitting several residential buildings and damaging the city’s institute for emergency surgery.

Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine in the past few days in apparent retaliation for Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod.

The Kharkiv region cuts across the front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battles for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The region is frequently attacked with missiles and drones.

Sergey Bolvinov, head of the investigative police department in Kharkiv, wrote on Telegram that Wednesday’s attack marked the first time aerial bombs were used since 2022.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also reported the use of aerial bombs.

The recent escalation comes as exhausted Ukrainian troops struggle with a shortage of personnel and ammunition and face growing Russian pressure along the front line of more than 1,000km.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sacked one of his top security officials, replacing him with the head of Ukraine’s foreign spy agency in a new reshuffle.

Zelenskiy dismissed Oleksii Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address.

The president gave no reason and said, without providing details, that Danilov would be “reassigned to another area.”

Zelenskiy replaced him with Oleksandr Lytvynenko, who served as head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

Later, Ukrainian forces shot down 26 out of 28 attack drones launched by Russia, Kyiv’s military said yesterday.

The Iranian-made drones were destroyed over parts of eastern, southern and southeastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

The Zaporizhzhia region’s governor said on Telegram that two women had been wounded when debris struck a residential neighborhood in the regional capital.