Russian Missile Strike On Kharkiv Building Kills Ten

KHARKIV: Russia launched a large-scale overnight barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least 10 people, including two children, after a ballistic missile struck a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia fired 480 drones and 29 missiles in coordinated strikes targeting energy facilities and railway infrastructure across the country.

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Ukraine’s air force reported that air defense units successfully intercepted 453 drones and 19 missiles during the attack. However, nine missiles and 26 attack drones managed to strike 22 locations, causing damage to infrastructure and residential areas.

In Kharkiv, a Russian ballistic missile slammed into a five-story residential building, killing 10 people and leaving at least 15 others wounded, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the strikes also damaged 19 residential buildings in the city, along with commercial and administrative structures. Electricity distribution lines and several vehicles were also affected by the attacks.

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Emergency responders and rescue teams were deployed to the impacted neighborhoods to assist survivors, clear debris, and assess the damage caused by the missile strike.

Residents described the destruction and chaos following the explosion. Hanna, who lived in the building that was hit, told Reuters she arrived shortly after the blast and struggled to process what had happened.

“When we arrived here 20 minutes after the explosion, I thought I was going to have a stroke,” she said.

“I couldn’t string two words together, and my legs were buckling.”

She added that she was relieved she and her child were not in the building at the time of the strike.

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“It’s good that I wasn’t there with my child and that my father was with me. It was ordinary people who lived there. What were they targeting?” she said.

Russian authorities said their forces had conducted overnight strikes targeting Ukraine’s military-related infrastructure. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that the attacks focused on military-industrial complexes, airfields, and energy facilities, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.

Beyond Kharkiv, other parts of Ukraine also reported damage from the strikes.

In the capital Kyiv, three people were injured after Russian attacks struck an energy infrastructure facility, according to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

The damage caused disruptions to heating services, leaving 2,806 residential apartment buildings without heat in four districts across the capital.

Ukraine’s national electricity grid operator Ukrenergo said emergency power cuts were introduced in seven regions following the strikes in order to stabilize the power system.

Ukrainian officials also reported attacks on railway infrastructure in central parts of the country. Four railway stations and additional railway facilities were damaged in the strikes, affecting transportation and logistics networks.

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In the southern Odesa region, Russian attacks hit port infrastructure, setting containers filled with vegetable oil on fire and damaging a grain warehouse used for agricultural storage.

Authorities said emergency crews continued working to extinguish fires and secure damaged facilities.

The overnight strikes represent one of the largest aerial assaults reported in recent weeks, highlighting the continued targeting of infrastructure and civilian areas amid the ongoing conflict.

Ukrainian officials said recovery operations and damage assessments were continuing in several regions affected by the attacks.