Russian strikes on Kharkiv kill 4

Russian strikes killed at least four people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a 14-year-old girl, officials said yesterday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had dropped a guided bomb on the city and urged Kyiv’s allies to take “strong decisions” to bolster his country’s air defence systems.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border and has been bombed persistently by Russian forces since they launched their invasion in February 2022.

“In the Nemyshlyansky district, the occupants killed a child right at a playground. A girl. At least three more people in the area were wounded,” Mayor Igor Terekhov wrote on social media.

He said at least another three people were killed by a hit on a high-rise building in the city’s Industrialny district.

Russian strikes earlier yesterday in the neighbouring region of Sumy left at least two people dead and eight wounded, local authorities said.

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