The northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has suffered another day of heavy shelling, according to regional officials.
Oleg Synegubov, head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, said on Telegram: “Today there were shelling in broad daylight from the central part of the city, the residential area of Saltivka of MLRS [multiple rocket systems] and artillery. Unfortunately 20 people were injured, 5 people were killed. Apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged.”
Ihor Terekhov, the city’s mayor, said residential areas were attacked in the morning and rockets were fired at the city center in the afternoon. He said dozens of buildings were damaged and people were killed and injured.
Terekhov said that the Russians had not given up “attempts to destroy the civilian population of Kharkov, sow panic in the city and break our spirits. Yet the will of Kharkov, the will of us Ukrainians, cannot be harmed by the enemy I was convinced of that when I saw a medic covering an injured woman during the shelling.”
Writing on his Telegram channel, Terekhov said that Russian troops “continue to furiously bombard the city. That is why I urge you again, if possible, to stay in the shelter and metro stations.”
State emergency services said on Sunday afternoon: “18 addresses in Kharkiv have been hit as a result of enemy shelling in the central part of the city. Apartments on the fourth and fifth floors were on fire in a five-storey building.” It said 160 firefighters and 33 equipment units were involved in putting out the fires.
Synegubov said that despite the attacks, Ukrainian forces are pushing the Russians back to the east of the city. He claimed that several villages about 40 kilometers southeast of Kharkov had been liberated.
If that is true and if Ukrainian victories east of Kharkov continue, Russian efforts to resupply troops gathered in eastern Ukraine for an offensive in Donbas could be hampered. Last week, Ukrainian special forces destroyed a bridge on a supply route south of Kharkov.
