Top Ukrainian officials, including Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, on Friday began a visit to Washington. However, the purpose of the visit has not been revealed so far.
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Russian strikes killed at least six people in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, including a 14-year-old girl at a playground, and wounded dozens more, AFP reported.
In a post on Telegram hours after the attack, Kharkiv region Governor Oleg Synegubov said that one child was killed in the playground. Three people were killed in the 12-story apartment block that caught fire as a result of the strike, he said. About 20 of the injured were in severe condition,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had dropped a guided bomb on the city and urged Kyiv’s allies to take “strong decisions” to bolster his country’s air defence systems.
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Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border and has been bombed persistently by Russian forces since they launched their invasion in February 2022. The region has been the focus of heavy Russian bombing throughout the war, although there had been a drop in intensity in recent weeks, possibly related to a shock incursion launched by Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Kursk region.
In the wake of the Kharkiv strike, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy renewed a call on Western allies to allow Ukraine to use long-range Western weapons to attack Russian military air bases.
“A strike … would not have happened if our defence forces had the ability to destroy Russian military aircraft where they are based,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. “There is no rational reason to restrict Ukraine’s defences.”
One end of the block was engulfed in black smoke, with many of the upper floors in flames. Several cars parked outside were gutted by fire.
Emergency services and rescue volunteers rushed to carry survivors out of the building. The body of one of the victims lay under a carpet on the ground outside, surrounded by police.
Residents of all ages, some of them covered in blood, sat stunned on benches and walls outside as medics attended to their injuries.
Meanwhile, top Ukrainian officials, including Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, on Friday began a visit to Washington, the Ukrainian presidential office said.
“We are working in Washington… We are grateful to our partners for their support,” the president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram.
Top General Staff officials were also in the delegation, the office said on Telegram.
Ukrainian authorities said that Friday’s attack involved five aerial guided bombs launched from planes in Russia’s Belgorod region, also known as “glide bombs” which are fitted with a navigation system taking them to their targets.
The weapons are hard to intercept and they have become a fearsome tool in the war in eastern Ukraine in recent months that can cause huge devastation.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. Thousands have been killed and wounded during the full-scale invasion Moscow launched in Ukraine in 2022.
Kyiv says that the most effective way to counter such strikes is to target Russian planes, not the bombs themselves. Meanwhile, The head of Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo, Vadym Kudrytskyi, is to be dismissed, Forbes Ukraine reported on Friday, citing four sources familiar with the matter.
One source said that Kudrytskyi refused to submit his resignation after the decision was made during an official meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
With inputs from agencies.