Russian airstrikes return to Kharkiv

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv with aerial bombs Wednesday for the first time since 2022, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, local officials said.

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 recent days, launching several missile barrages on the capital Kyiv and hitting energy infrastructure across the country in apparent retaliation for recent Ukrainian aerial attacks on the Russian border region of Belgorod. Such sporadic attacks, however, have been common throughout the war.

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

Sergey Bolvinov, head of the investigative police in Khakiv, said on Telegram Wednesday’s attack marked the first time aerial bombs were used since 2022. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also reported the use of aerial bombs.

(AP/Andrii Marienko) A police officer inspects a crater in front of a damaged residential building that was hit by a Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday.