At least five people, including two children, were killed in a Russian overnight airstrike on a residential area in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, regional authorities confirmed.
Governor Oleh Synehubov said the victims included a one-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, while the number of injured is “continuously rising.”
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that 20 people were wounded, among them six children.
Drone Attack on Residential Building
According to officials, Russian forces launched a massive dawn attack using four Geran-2 drones, which struck a five-story residential building in an industrial zone.
The assault caused severe damage to civilian infrastructure, forcing emergency crews to search for survivors under the rubble.
Pattern of Attacks
Russia continues to strike Ukrainian regions with a variety of weapons – including attack drones, missiles, anti-terror rocket systems, and MLRS barrages.
Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, but Ukrainian authorities and international organizations classify these assaults as war crimes, emphasizing their deliberate nature.
Broader Context
The attack comes just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington. Zelensky, joined by European allies, is expected to push for firm security guarantees from the U.S. to deter further Russian aggression.
The meeting follows Trump’s recent summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which yielded little tangible progress and raised concerns in Kyiv and across Europe about Trump’s perceived alignment with Kremlin positions.
