A Russian guided bomb struck last night supermarket in the second-largest Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, injuring at least four people, said Oleg Sinegubov, the regional governor of the Kharkiv region, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
In the social network “Telegram” Sinegubov reported that the supermarket is located near the city center. The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, added that the site is located next to residential blocks. The mayor stated that an earlier strike hit a poor area within the city.
In a separate post in “Telegram” Sinegubov said Russian forces struck a block of flats in the small town of Kovsharovka outside Kupyansk, east of Kharkiv, injuring one person. According to him, several more people may be buried under the debris of the destroyed entrance of the building. One woman has already been rescued, but the rescue teams' work is hampered by Russian shelling.
In recent weeks, the region has faced increasing Russian pressure.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defense forces are trying to repel a Russian drone attack on Kiev, the capital's military administration was quoted as saying today.
„Stay in hiding!”, urged the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Serhiy Popko, on the “Telegram” social network.
Witnesses told Reuters they heard explosions in Kiev, which they said sounded like combat activity by air defense units. There are no reports of casualties.
The capital's mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, announced that debris from downed Russian drones had caused fires in a park and on lawns along the banks of the Dnieper River, and emergency services teams had arrived at the scene.
The Ukrainian city of Bolgrad and its adjacent villages in the Ukrainian Odesa region were attacked by about 10 drones at 11:35 p.m. local time (coincides with Bulgarian time), local channels on the Telegram social network reported.
According to preliminary information, a target has been hit.
Strong explosions echoed in the Izmail district of the Ukrainian Odesa region, which was attacked by drones, local channels on the Telegram social network reported.
The sirens in Odesa region were activated at 22:25 local time (corresponds to Bulgarian time).
The Chairman of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleg Kiper called in “Telegram” residents of Izmail region to go to safe places.
Meanwhile, the co-chairman of the German far-left party “The Left” Jan van Aken spoke out against close ties between NATO and Ukraine and the supply of additional weapons to the country's armed forces. During a recent trip to Kiev, he told DPA, quoted by BTA, that it would be a “mistake to it is said that the only way to guarantee security is to be in NATO“.
He also stated that “all other options between simply supplying weapons and doing nothing should be tried first”. As one option, Van Aken pointed to the imposition of tougher sanctions against the Kremlin, highlighting the tankers used by Russia to export oil.
According to him, it is “incomprehensible“ that the German Coast Guard “turns a blind eye when every day millions of dollars worth of oil passes by” and that putting the tankers “on a leash” would lead to “tremendous pressure”.
According to him, for the end of the war, it is important to sign not just a peace agreement, but for Ukraine to receive material security guarantees from Europe. “Material security guarantees may also mean a truce with Chinese and American soldiers walking around in blue helmets“, the left-wing politician pointed out as an example.
This is Jan van Aken's first visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of the country in February 2022.