Oleh Synehubov, Kharkiv regional governor, said the Russian
forces struck the city late on Friday, hitting civilian
infrastructure, causing several large fires, and damaging at
least 15 residential houses in the east of Kharkiv.
"As a result of the strikes, seven people died, among them three
children: seven-, four-years old, and a baby about six- months
old," he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Three people were wounded, he said.
The Ukrainian air force said that air defense and mobile groups
of drone hunters shot down 23 out of 31 Russian-launched drones,
which were targeting the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the
country and also the Odesa region in the south.
In Kharkiv, the head of the local prosecutor's office, Oleksandr
Filchakov, said in a video posted on Telegram that three drones
hit the petrol station in Nemyshlianskyi district of the city.
"There was a great deal of fuel and that's why there are these
dreadful consequences from the fire," Filchakov said.
Firefighters and rescuers worked through the night to cope with
the consequences of the strike, extinguish fires, and clear
through the debris, officials said.
Synehubov also said that Russian drones hit a restaurant in the
small town of Velykyi Berluk, some 100 kilometers from Kharkiv.
He reported no casualties there.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm details of the
attack. Russia did not immediately respond to a request for
comment but has said it does not deliberately target civilian
sites.
Kharkiv has been under attack regularly since the start of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been a
frequent target of Russian assaults in recent weeks.
In the Black Sea port of Odesa, the regional governor said a
drone attack had injured one person.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash, additional reporting by Ron Popeski;
Editing by Sam Holmes)
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