Child killed, 29 injured in Russian strike on residential building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

A Russian guided bomb struck a high-rise apartment block on Wednesday evening in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killing a child and injuring at least 29 people, officials said.

Kharkiv region governor Oleg Synegoubov said the child, 11, had been pulled from under rubble with serious head wounds and fractures, but medics were unable to save him. He had earlier said three people were trapped under rubble.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Synegoubov said the strike had triggered a fire and destroyed most of one entrance, making a huge hole in the building.

Reuters Television footage showed rescue teams picking their way through twisted piles of concrete and other building materials to bring out the injured and rush them into ambulances. Firefighters on long hoists tackled smoke billowing from shattered apartments.

Kharkiv remained in Ukrainian hands through the initial failed advance of Russian forces on the capital Kyiv in the early days of the February 2022 invasion. It has since become a frequent target of Russian air attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack underscored the need for more military aid from Ukraine’s Western allies.

“Our partners can see what is happening every day,” he wrote on Telegram. “And in these conditions, every decision that is put off means, at the very least, dozens of lives and hundreds of Russian bombs used against Ukraine.”