A Russian bomb hit a residential building and a playground in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, killing seven people and injuring at least 77, Ukrainian authorities said, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a 14-year-old girl was among those killed. The mayor of Kharkiv Igor Terekhov said earlier in the communication application "Telegram" that a child was killed on the playground.
As a result of the impact, the 12-story residential building caught fire, the mayor also informed. The body of a murdered woman was pulled from the rubble, bringing the death toll to seven, Terekhov said later.
About 20 of the wounded are in a serious condition, said the regional governor of the Kharkiv region Oleg Sinegubov.
The upper floors of the building were engulfed in flames. Several cars parked near the building also caught fire.
Rescuers took quick action to get the survivors out of the building.
Kharkov is one of the main targets of Russian shelling in the war in Ukraine, although in recent weeks the intensity of shelling has been lower, perhaps because of the surprise entry of Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk region, Reuters notes.
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Russia denies attacking civilians. Thousands of people have been killed or injured since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.
After the attack on Kharkiv, Volodymyr Zelensky again called on Ukraine's Western allies to allow Kiev to use long-range weapons provided by the West to strike air bases on Russian territory.
"A strike... that would not have happened if our defense forces had the ability to destroy Russian warplanes where they are deployed. There is no rational reason why we should limit Ukraine's defense," Zelensky said in "Telegram".
Kiev says the most effective way to prevent strikes like the one on Kharkiv is to shoot down Russian planes that launch missiles into Ukraine.
The United States intends to further strengthen Ukraine's air defenses, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin said at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov at the Pentagon, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Austin indicated that the US plans to advocate for increased support for Ukrainian air defenses at the Contact Group on Ukraine meeting next week at Ramstein Air Force Base. in West Germany.
Washington and its allies continue to provide Kiev with military equipment that is critical to defending against the ongoing Russian invasion, Austin said.
He condemned the latest Russian attacks on civilian targets. "Let me be clear, it is never acceptable to attack civilians, and Ukraine's resilience will help it prevail against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's aggression and atrocities," the US defense secretary stressed.
Umerov, for his part, thanked the US for its support and said he wanted to inform Austin about the situation on the battlefield and about the current needs of the Ukrainian army.
The focus of their discussion was the internal Ukrainian production of weapons. Umerov noted that Ukraine has created hundreds of new arms companies and now has the ability to quickly domestically produce high-quality weapons.
Earlier, CNN reported, citing a Ukrainian representative, that Umerov would present the US government with a list of potential targets in Russia. Ukraine can repel many attacks from the start, striking Russian command posts, airports, ammunition depots and barracks, DPA commented. For now, Washington has limited the use of American weapons against Russia.