Russia hits Ukrainian city with ‘most powerful attack’ of entire war, mayor says
Russia bombarded Ukraine’s second-largest city with massive strikes in the early hours of Saturday, its mayor said, killing at least three people, one night after Moscow carried out one of the war’s largest aerial assaults on Ukraine.
Russia has conducted extensive attacks on Ukraine in recent days, in what is being viewed as retaliation for an audacious drone operation by Kyiv that debilitated more than a third of Moscow’s strategic cruise missile carriers.
The northeastern city of Kharkiv — which sits about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border — was shaken by “at least 40 explosions” on Saturday, according to a Telegram post by Mayor Igor Terekhov.
“Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” Terekhov said. “The enemy is striking simultaneously with missiles, (drones) and guided aerial bombs. This is outright terror against peaceful Kharkiv.”
Video released by emergency services showed a large fire burning in a multi-story apartment block in the Osnovyanskyi district in the city’s southwest, where Terekhov said two people had died. One person was also killed in a strike that hit a house in the Kyivskyi district to the north, he said.
In response to the assault, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Russia “continues its terror against civilians,” while calling for more pressure to be exerted on Moscow “to put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction.”
More than 50 drones, four guided aerial bombs and a missile were used in the attack which also damaged an administrative building and music school in the city, according to Kharkiv region prosecutor’s office.
Among the injured include a 14-year-old girl and a one-and-a-half-month-old boy, who is suffering from “acute stress,” the office added.
Ruslana Sheveleva, a Kharkiv resident whose neighbors’ house was struck in the attack, described the chaotic scenes as people scrambled to escape the building. “The house was hit, right where this young man was lying,” she told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.
“I don’t think he even understood what was happening. He died instantly. They dug his mother out from under the rubble. His father, as I understand it, managed to get out almost on his own,” she added.
Iryna Ivanenko, another resident, said her 26-year-old daughter — who was later rescued by firefighters — begged her for help, trapped in her bedroom under a heavy slab. “I tried to lift the slab, but it was impossible,” Ivanenko told Suspline.
Russian attacks in the country have killed at least seven people and injured more than 40 others since Friday morning, according to a CNN tally of figures from local authorities.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that it had shot down a Russian Su35 fighter jet as part of a “successful Air Force operation in the Kursk direction.”
Russia did not immediately comment on the claim, but a Russian military blogger described the plane as lost and said that the pilot had been rescued.
A day earlier, in apparent retaliation for Ukraine’s drone swarm, Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles across broad swaths of Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others.
“They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late on Friday.
Trump had earlier warned Russian retaliation was imminent, after speaking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if Putin intends to further escalate Moscow’s retaliation.
Trump is eager to bring an end to the three-year war, but has been reluctant to impose new sanctions on Russia while the U.S. pushes the warring nations to strike a ceasefire deal.
On Friday, he said he will use further sanctions against Russia “if necessary.”
“If I think Russia will not be making a deal or stopping the bloodshed … I’ll use it if it’s necessary,” he told reporters.
Officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul on Monday for a second round of peace talks, but the meeting lasted barely over an hour, and the only real outcome was an agreement to work towards another prisoner swap.
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