(Updated: )
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia attacked the city of Kharkiv with KAB guided bombs the evening of June 7, killing a woman and a man and injuring at least 18 people.
The bombing follows a night of deadly Russian strikes against the city. Russia launched drones, missiles, and guided bombs at Kharkiv overnight on June 7, killing at least three people and injuring 19, including two children.
Rescuers were still searching for the bodies of six victims believed to be trapped under the rubble on the afternoon of June 7, according to the regional prosecutor's office.
At around 5:30 p.m. local time, Mayor Ihor Terekhov warned that Kharkiv was again under attack from guided aerial bombs.
Russia launched four KAB bombs at central Kharkiv, targeting the city's Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi districts, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported after the attack. One of the bombs hit the Children's Railway, a popular gathering place for families.
A 30-year-old woman was killed in the attack, Syniehubov said. Another 19 people were injured, with three in serious condition. Ten victims have been hospitalized.
The woman who as killed was an employee of Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia), according to Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, board chair of Ukrzaliznytsia. Four other railway employees were among the injured.
The Children's Railway in Kharkiv was closed at the time of the attack, Pertsovskyi said. The opening had been canceled because of security risks.
"(T)he opening was canceled, so there were no students or visitors on site and they are safe! It's scary to imagine what would have happened otherwise," he wrote.
The attacks damaged two buildings and four cars at the Children's Railway, two homes, and a farm building, according to Syniehubov. Emergency responders are still at work on the scene.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the bombing a "brutal" attack and offered his condolences to the victims, noting that Russian strikes "have been hitting our city of Kharkiv all day long."
Zelensky rejected the idea that Russia's bombardments are a "response" to Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine's daring mass drone strike that struck military aircraft at four Russian air bases on June 1. Russia's only aim is destruction, the president said.
"In more than 11 years of Russia’s war against Ukraine, they have brought only one new thing to our land, and this is really the most widespread Russian product — ruins and death."
The previous night, Russia struck civilian targets across Kharkiv, including an apartment building. The attack killed three and injured 19, including a 1-month-old baby. Extensive search-and-rescue operations were underway following the strike.
The attack on Kharkiv came the night after Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile attack across Ukraine on June 6. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the strike was a response to Operation Spiderweb — despite Russia's history of mass aerial attacks on civilian targets throughout the full-scale war.
U.S. President Donald Trump echoed the narrative the day after the attack, saying the attack on military aircraft gave Russian President Vladimir Putin "a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them."
Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine suffers frequent Russian assaults due to its vulnerable front-line position. The city of Kharkiv has regularly come under fire, with Russian drones and missiles targeting residential buildings in densely populated neighborhoods.
Dmytro Basmat
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