In Kharkiv, a ten-year-old boy died when a residential building was bombed. The day before, a Russian rocket killed 50 people in the Ukrainian village of Hrosa – one in every six residents.
According to military information from Kiev, Russia has once again massively attacked Ukraine with drone strikes and artillery fire. In the city of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, a ten-year-old boy died after Russian shelling of a residential building, authorities announced on Friday. The devastating Russian rocket attack on the village of Hrosa in Kharkiv the previous day, killing more than 50 people, caused international outrage.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported Friday morning that the country’s anti-aircraft defenses destroyed 25 of 33 Russian drones. Southern Ukraine, including the Odessa region, was once again affected by attacks. In the Danube region, among other things, a grain silo was damaged and several trucks caught fire. There were no injuries, it was said.
According to the General Staff in Kiev, more than 110 Ukrainian cities were under Russian artillery fire. Several Russian attacks were reportedly repelled.
Massive attack causes horror
After the attack on Hrosa there was great horror. The Russian army is “an absolute evil,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his video address on Thursday. EU and UN representatives also condemned the attack. According to Ukrainian authorities, 51 people, including a six-year-old child, were killed by Russian rocket fire in Hrosa, not far from the city of Kupyansk. Three people were reported missing.
At the time of the attack, villagers gathered at the cafe for a funeral ceremony for a deceased fellow citizen. Rescue work was completed in the evening, it was said, and no other victims were found under the rubble. According to Zelenskyy, just over 300 people recently lived in Hrosa. The worst Russian attack on the Kharkiv region since the start of the war destroyed a sixth of the village.
“Russia’s terror has reached a milestone”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell strongly condemned the Russian attack. “Russia’s horrific terror against Ukraine’s civilian population shows no sign of abating and reached another grim milestone today,” Borrell said. It is a heinous attack on innocent civilians. Intentional attacks on civilians are war crimes.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also made serious accusations against Moscow. “Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited by international humanitarian law and must stop immediately”, demanded Guterres through his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. This left no doubt that UN representatives on the ground held Russia responsible for the attack.
Another kamikaze drone attack
According to Ukrainian media, Russian military forces again attacked targets in Ukraine with so-called kamikaze drones on Friday night. The drones, which arrived in three waves, targeted Cherkasy, in the interior of the country, and the port city of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, among others. Air defenses became active in both cities.
Russia, in turn, reported Ukrainian attacks. Among other things, the Sevastopol naval base on the occupied Crimean peninsula was attacked by Ukrainian naval drones on Friday morning, state agency TASS reported. (APA/dpa/Portal)