KHARKIV - A day of mourning was declared in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Saturday, as rescuers and emergency teams wrap up their operations following a Russian bomb attack that killed at least six civilians, including a child in a playground.
At least 97 people were injured, including 24 children, when Moscow struck the city with five guided aerial bombs, according to Ukrainian authorities, in one of the most impactful Russian attacks on the region over the summer.
Among the dead was 14-year-old Sofia, who was in a playground when she was killed on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“These horrific, cowardly Russian strikes targeted ordinary homes and a city park. Russia will be held accountable for all its evil deeds,” Zelensky said, again pressing Western allies to step up their military support.“We need decisions – decisions that our partners can make, decisions from those countries that have the power to ensure we have the capability to destroy Russian military aircraft at their bases, where eliminating these terrorists and their aircraft will be most effective,” he said on Friday.
Russian forces conducted the “massive bombardment” of the city using Su-34 fight jets that were deployed from the border Belgorod region, according to the head of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, Oleksandr Filchakov.
The 500 kilogram (1,100 lb) guided aerial bombs were launched from Russian territory and are very difficult to intercept, according to Ukrainian officials.
“This is a bomb with a control module, which means that the enemy was specifically targeting residential infrastructure,” the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said Saturday.
Striking the airplanes that carry those bombs is the most effective way to prevent such attacks, Zelensky has argued, as he continues to urge the United States and Western partners to lift restrictions on using long-range weapons to hit military targets on Russian territory.
The guided aerial bombs hit civilian infrastructure in four districts of the city in the Friday afternoon attack, Filchakov said, adding that 82 apartment buildings, 11 private houses, three administrative buildings, two educational establishments, 47 shopping facilities, 57 cars, two warehouses, 10 garages and an enterprise facility were damaged.