Russian forces hit a residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv today, killing three people, including two minors, and injuring a number of others people, reported the Associated Press.
The head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said one of the dead boys, a 12-year-old, was fatally wounded when the building was hit by a Russian five-hundred-kilogram planning bomb.
"The boy was pulled out from under the rubble with severe skull injuries and body fractures," Sinegubov announced on social networks. "The doctors' attempts to resuscitate him lasted more than half an hour. Unfortunately, the child could not be saved", he also wrote.
Sinegubov later stated that the bodies of a 15-year-old boy and an unidentified man were also removed from under the debris.
Ukraine's Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said at least 35 people were injured in the attack on the building and others may still be trapped under the rubble.
Russia increasingly uses powerful planning bombs to shell Ukrainian positions along the thousand-kilometer line of contact and targets cities tens of kilometers from the front line, AP notes. With a population of 1.1 million people, Kharkiv is located about 30 kilometers from the border with Russia.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on the US to allow the Ukrainian military to use US long-range missiles to strike air bases deep inside Russian territory, where warplanes armed with strategic bombs are stationed. At this stage, Washington authorizes shelling only in border areas.
Zelensky repeated his call today, accompanying it with a video of a nine-story residential building in Kharkiv hit by a planned bomb - at least three floors of it destroyed and the others severely damaged.
"Our partners see what is happening every day,", the Ukrainian head of state wrote in the "Telegram" application. "Under these conditions, any delay in their talks (on Ukraine's use of missiles) means at least dozens, if not hundreds, of similar Russian bombs against Ukraine. Their decisions are the lives of our people. Accordingly, together we must stop Russia and do it with all possible forces", he also stated.
Also, early this morning, Russia fired ten missiles of different types at the bridge over the mouth of the Dniester river, which connects the north and south of Odesa region, the Ukrainian air force said, saying that only two of the missiles were intercepted.
In addition, Russia has attacked at least 9 regions in Ukraine with 43 explosive drones, the Ukrainian Air Force announced. 17 drones were shot down, 23 were "lost in location", possibly as a result of the operation of electronic warfare equipment, and three returned to Russian-controlled territories.
The head of the Kyiv City Military Administration - Serhiy Popko, informed that debris from some drones fell in the historical district of the capital Podil (Podol in Russian), north of the center, and the damage was insignificant.
According to Popko, during the past month of October, there was only one day when the residents of Kyiv did not hear the air raid sirens. There were an average of two alarms per day, with 20 Russian attacks aimed directly at the city being repulsed.
In the eastern part of Ukraine, Russian forces continue to advance slowly but irrevocably, seeking to take advantage of the shortage of manpower and ammunition in the Ukrainian army, AP notes. The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced the capture of the village of Yasna Polyana in the Donetsk region, which is a strategic combat area.
Ukraine retaliated today with drone attacks on the Russian-occupied town of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, according to local authorities appointed by Moscow. The port was attacked. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian air defenses shot down 21 Ukrainian drones today over several regions and over the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Zelensky said that a bilateral document is being prepared between Ukraine and Hungary, part of which concerns security issues, and in particular Ukraine's accession to NATO, Ukrinform reported.
Russia struck a nine-story building in Kharkiv with a guided aerial bomb.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 30, 2024
Tragically, there are casualties, including children, and more people may still be trapped under the rubble. All necessary emergency services are on site.
Partners see what happens every day. In these… pic.twitter.com/iVLJ6x5K4R