FALCON POWERS – A Russian air strike on the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine on Wednesday resulted in the destruction of a cafe and caused damage to an adjacent residential building, setting a fuel station on fire. Local officials said that ten people were injured, with at least one in serious condition.
The cafe owner told Reuters from the midst of the rubble and debris, “I have nothing left.” All the windows were shattered in a 12-story high-rise building across the street. Around 50 meters away, all the windows of a passenger bus were also broken, with large amounts of blood spattered on the rear side before forming a pool on the asphalt.
Prosecutors in the region said the bus driver suffered leg amputations, and added on Telegram that Russia used a guided bomb launched from the neighboring Belgorod region for the strike.
Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, said three others were taken to the hospital.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and the surrounding region have been subjected to Russian attacks since the start of the war in 2022. The strikes have become more intense in recent months, targeting civilian infrastructure and energy facilities, with Russian forces opening a new front of fighting north of the regional capital in recent weeks.
Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and injured in the nearly 27-month-long war in Ukraine.
