A Russian airstrike hit Kharkiv on Friday afternoon, with Ukrainian authorities saying at least two people were killed and several others injured. The attack was carried out with guided bombs (GABs) and hit the Shevchenko district of the city, the BBC reports, BTA reports.
The head of the regional military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said that Russian forces used three guided bombs. Two of them fell outside the city limits, while the third hit a busy central road. According to him, there were no military targets in the affected area, only civilian infrastructure.
The strike caused a fire, damaging cars and windows of residential buildings. Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said several cars had burned down, some of which had people inside.
“One person died on the spot, and another died in an ambulance“, Sinegubov said. He later said the victims were two men aged 40 and 55. Among the injured were a 20-year-old woman and a 73-year-old woman who were taken to hospital, as well as a child.
According to local authorities, initial information about the number of victims was contradictory. In his latest statement, Sinegubov said a total of eight people were injured, including a nine-month-old girl. Earlier, he and Mayor Terekhov had spoken of a smaller number of victims, stressing that the data was being refined.
The Russian side has not commented on the airstrike on Kharkiv.