At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in the shelling of Ukraine’s second most populous city Kharkiv,the city’s mayor has said.
However, the governor of Kharkiv Regional State Administration said all Russian attacks “were repulsed” and positions held, despite heavy bombardment of Kharkiv on Tuesday and overnight.
Governor Oleh Synegubov said “the Russian enemy suffered significant losses”.
It is also understood that Russian troops entered the northeastern and northern sectors of the city as Kharkiv was pummelled overhead by jet artilllery.
Ukraine says a Russian missile strike overnight has killed at least two people in the city of Zhytomyr, which lies 120km (75 miles) west of Kyiv.
The strike, aimed at an air base in the city, hit nearby residential homes.
The Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs tweeted that at least two people were killed while 16 people were injured.
A government official, Anton Gerashchenko, had earlier said on his Telegram account that the death toll was even higher.
“So far, four people have died. Including a child,” he said.
Also Ukraine government accounts on Facebook and Telegraph have shared video which they said was of the explosion’s aftermath. Vision showed rescuers scrambling to dig out survivors from the rubble.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has tweeted saying one of the buildings hit was a “maternity home”.
Meanwhile, United Nations says at least 136 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last Thursday with thirteen children believed to be among the dead.
But Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the real death toll is likely to be much higher.
Throssell said most of the casualties came as a result of heavy artillery shelling, airstrikes and other wide-impact explosives.
The UN also said that about 400 people have been injured in the fighting so far.
However, figures released by Ukraine’s government suggest as many as 352 civilians have died and 1,684 injured.
Comments are closed.