Five killed by Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine

AFP , Wednesday 1 May 2024

Five people were killed Wednesday as Russia struck Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, local officials said.

Visitors look at and take photos of a German made Leopard 2A6 tank, hit and captured by Russian troo
Visitors look at and take photos of a German-made Leopard 2A6 tank, hit and captured by Russian troops during the fighting in Ukraine which is seen on display in Moscow, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. AFP

 

In the northeastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia, a guided bomb attack killed two people, the region's governor said.

The region -- large parts of which were occupied by Russian forces for months after they invaded in February 2022 -- is under near-constant bombardment from Russian artillery.

On Wednesday morning, "two guided aerial bombs hit the centre of the town of Zolochiv," around 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the Russian border, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on national television.

"We know of two dead and six injured civilians including an 11-year-old boy," he wrote on Telegram.

A local man aged 67 and a 38-year-old local woman were killed in one car, Synegubov said, posting photographs of black smoke billowing from numerous parked vehicles on fire.

Further east in the Kharkiv region close to the city of Kupiansk, Russian shelling killed a 67-year-old woman in the village of Lelyukivka, Synegubov added.

And in the eastern Donetsk region, two people were killed and six injured in the small town of Girnyk, about 15 kilometres from the front line, said Vadym Filashkin, the head of the region's military administration.

"The Russians attacked the town with Uragans this afternoon," Filashkin wrote on Telegram, referring to rocket launchers.

Those killed were a 57-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man, he added.

In its attacks in recent weeks, Moscow has begun using new powerful guided aerial bombs to devastating effect.

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