Russian attacks kill 3 and wound 64 as drones hit Kharkiv and other
parts of Ukraine
[June 11, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a new drone assault across
Ukraine overnight on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 64
others, Ukrainian officials said.
One of the hardest-hit areas was the city of Kharkiv in northeastern
Ukraine, where 17 attack drones struck two residential districts, Mayor
Ihor Terekhov said. Emergency crews, municipal workers and volunteers
worked through the night to extinguish fires, rescue residents from
burning homes, and restore gas, electricity and water services.
“Those are ordinary sites of peaceful life — those that should never be
targeted,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
Three people were confirmed killed, according to Kharkiv regional head
Oleh Syniehubov. In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
said that 64 people had been wounded and reiterated his calls for
greater international pressure on Moscow.
"Every new day now brings new vile Russian attacks, and almost every
strike is telling," he said. “We must not be afraid or postpone new
decisions that could make things more difficult for Russia. Without
this, they will not engage in genuine diplomacy. And this depends
primarily on the United States and other world leaders. Everyone who has
called for an end to the killings and for diplomacy must act.”
Kharkiv has been frequently targeted in recent months as Russia launched
repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on civilian
infrastructure.
Moscow's forces have launched waves of drones and missiles in recent
days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a
wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday.
The attacks come despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the
war. The two sides traded memorandums at direct peace talks in Istanbul
on June 2 that set out conditions. However, the inclusion of clauses
that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely.
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Firefighters tackle a blaze after a Russian attack that hit a
residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
(AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Wednesday's strikes also caused widespread destruction in Kharkiv's
Slobidskyi and Osnovianskyi districts, hitting apartment buildings,
private homes, playgrounds, industrial sites and public
transportation. Images from the scene published by Ukraine’s
Emergency Service on Telegram showed burning apartments, shattered
windows and firefighters battling the blaze.
“We stand strong. We help one another. And we will endure,” Terekhov
said. “Kharkiv is Ukraine. And it cannot be broken.”
Ukraine's air force said that 85 attack and decoy drones were fired
over the country overnight. Air defense systems intercepted 40 of
the drones, while nine more failed to reach their targets without
causing damage.
In other developments, Russia has returned 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian
soldiers in line with an agreement reached during the talks in
Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for Treatment of Prisoners of
War said that the bodies came from Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk,
Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as Russia's Kursk region
where Ukrainian forces waged an incursion. It said that authorities
would work to determine their identities as quickly as possible.
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