Attack kills four in Ukraine as Russia builds war strength
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces fired drones at two apartment buildings and a power plant in Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing four people, local authorities said on Thursday, as the Kremlin’s forces apparently set in motion their strategy for the coming months of war by escalating the bombardment of civilian areas.
Shahed drones smashed into two apartment buildings in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, which has frequently been targeted during more than two years of war. Other drones targeted the power grid.
In recent months, the Kremlin’s forces have stepped up their aerial barrages of Ukraine, hitting urban areas.
The 1,000-kilometre front line is largely deadlocked, but Kyiv officials say Moscow’s troops have recently been probing for Ukrainian weaknesses on the front line ahead of an expected large-scale Russian offensive in the summer.
An Associated Press video of the Kharkiv attack shows firefighters battling blazing houses in the dark when the roar of an approaching second drone grows louder. The drone explodes nearby, sending up an orange fireball, and rescue workers with flashlights dash to help their injured colleagues lying on the ground amid embers and debris.
“Where are ambulances?” shouts one first responder as they carry away the injured on fire blankets.
The Russian strikes hit a multi-storey building in Kharkiv twice in quick succession, killing three first responders, local authorities said. Six people were wounded at that location. Another 14-storey building was hit by a drone, killing a 69-yearold woman.
Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles — the first one to draw crews to the scene and the second to wound or kill them. The tactic is called a “double tap” in military jargon. Russians used the same method in Syria’s civil war.
The Institute for the Study of War said the goal of Russia’s escalated attacks on civilian areas and the country’s power grid might be to compel Ukraine’s army to deploy air defence systems away from the front line. That would allow Russia to provide more air cover for its ground operations on the battlefield, the think tank said Wednesday.
With the support of China, Russia has built its forces back up close to full strength, according to a senior U.S. official.
“We have assessed over the course of the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday.