Tower block inferno in Ukraine as Russian bombs hit high-rise

A Russian aerial assault on Ukraine ‘s northeastern city of Kharkiv damaged a residential building and a high-rise, killing at least five people, including one child, the mayor said. ‘Occupiers killed a child right on the playground,’ Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram, explaining how the Russian munitions targeted civilian centres.

Four other people were killed in a 12-storey apartment block that caught fire as a result of the strike, he added. Horrific footage shared to social media by onlookers showed huge gouts of orange flame trailing from the windows of the high-rise in the city’s Industrialny district as the twisted wreckage of burning cars smouldered below.

Regional governor Oleg Synehubov said at least 40 people had been wounded in the attacks and that medics were responding at the scenes, with the death toll expected to increase sharply. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the damage came as a result of Russian guided bombs and issued a fresh appeal to US and European governments to aid his nation in repelling Russia’s attacks.

‘We need strong decisions from our partners to stop this terror,’ Zelensky said in a post on social media. ‘We need long-range capabilities,’ he added, referring to Kyiv ‘s appeals to allies to lift restrictions on the use of Western-supplied missiles inside Russian territory. ‘We need the implementation of air defence agreements for Ukraine. This is about saving lives.’

Today’s assault on Kharkiv comes days after Russia launched a fresh round of punishing strikes across Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday, devastating various civilian buildings including supermarkets and hotels while crippling key energy infrastructure. Nationwide air raid alerts were triggered in the early hours of Monday morning as Ukraine’s air defences sprang into action to shoot down a torrent of drones launched as Moscow seeks revenge for Ukraine’s invasion of its Kursk region.

The attacks kept coming, and hours later Ukraine’s air force warned that Russia had deployed almost a dozen Tu-95 and six Tu-22M3 strategic bombers which let loose salvo after salvo of missiles during Monday morning rush hour. MiG-31K warplanes – capable of firing fearsome Kinzhal supersonic missiles – and four naval vessels were also involved in the bombardment. The attacks involving drones, ballistic and cruise missiles proceeded intermittently into Tuesday, with five people reported killed and 16 injured.

Ukraine’s state grid administrator Ukrenergo was forced to institute blackouts due to the damage suffered by power stations and energy infrastructure, which Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said had ‘once again become the target of Russian terrorists’. He went on to echo calls made by Zelensky and other top Ukrainian officials to European and US backers to provide Kyiv with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia. After a day of relative calm on Wednesday, a Russian attack overnight Thursday damaged a factory in Ukraine’s northern city of Sumy, killed two women and injured at least 11 people, Ukrainian authorities announced this morning.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said the factory manufactured packaging for baby food, juices and household products. One injured person died later in hospital, regional prosecutors said on Telegram, and the body of another victim was retrieved from the rubble. The airstrike caused a fire, prompting authorities to tell residents to stay inside and close windows because of air pollution. The northern Sumy region borders Russia’s region of Kursk where Ukraine has made a major cross-border incursion since August 6 while Moscow’s troops press towards the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Separately, a drone attack hit an industrial facility in Poltava in central Ukraine without causing any casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians but thousands have been killed and injured in its strikes during the war, which began when Russian troops invaded its neighbour in February 2022. Ukraine on Monday also lost the first of its F-16 warplanes which crashed as it was repelling the major Russian attack. The jet came down and its pilot died while it was approaching a Russian target, the Ukrainian General Staff confirmed yesterday. ‘Connection with one of the aircraft was lost while it was approaching the next target. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, and the pilot died,’ the statement said. Possible causes from pilot error to mechanical failure are being investigated as defence officials said the F-16 was not downed by Russian fire.

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