Ukraine war: Russian attacks on Kharkiv and surrounding area kill 1, injure 24, officials say
- Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been a frequent target of attacks in recent weeks
- Ukraine has been fighting against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years
Russian attacks on Orthodox Easter Sunday killed a woman buried under rubble and injured 24 in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv and the surrounding region, regional officials said.
Prosecutors in Kharkiv region said 15 more were hurt in an attack later in the day by aerial bombs on the city centre.
“The next time it could hit my house. Why did it hit here? Just who is here? And on such a holy day. How? I cannot grasp it at all …” Natalia Avilova-Patrikeyeva said outside a block of flats with shattered balconies and windows blown out.
“I thought that at least on this day it would remain calm. At four in the morning there also was a strike. I don’t sleep, I don’t sleep at all.”
After midnight, public broadcaster Suspilne reported power cuts in parts of Kharkiv region. It also said there had been power cuts in adjacent Sumy region after reports of drone attacks and explosions.
Stunned residents milled about the courtyard outside a block of flats or surveyed debris in flats or in stairwells. Forensic experts combed the ground for pieces of shrapnel.
“The explosion wave kicked out the door and I hid under the table. When I realised what was happening, there was smoke everywhere,” said resident Roza Kuzmenko.
“One woman from our block was wounded, the ambulance took her. Thank God, I only have a scratch [on my arm].”
Syniehubov also reported the death of an 88-year-old woman in the shelling of the village of Monachynivka, east of Kharkiv. Her body was recovered from the rubble of a house. Prosecutors said three people were injured.
Vadim Filashkin, head of the military administration in Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia’s slow advance through eastern Ukraine, said two people were killed by shelling in the town of Pokrovsk.
Two were injured in Chasiv Yar, west of the Russian-held town of Bakhmut and cited by Ukraine as Moscow’s next target in its campaign.
