Ukraine: Russian Strike Hits Kharkiv Residential Area, Wounding at Least 19

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A Russian strike on residential buildings in the major Ukrainian city of Kharkiv wounded at least 19 people, Ukrainian officials said, as images from the scene showed damaged multi-storey buildings, smouldering rubble, and firefighters battling flames amid the debris.

The attack occurred on Friday and came one day after Russia accused Kyiv of carrying out a strike on a hotel and a café in the village of Khorly, located in Ukraine’s occupied south, which Moscow said killed 28 people and warned would bring “consequences.” Ukrainian authorities, however, said that strike targeted a military gathering closed to civilians.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said in a statement posted on Telegram after the strike that “a total of 19 people suffered blast injuries, glass wounds, and abrasions,” adding that a six-month-old baby was among those wounded.

AFP images from the site showed significant destruction, with piles of smouldering rubble surrounding damaged residential blocks as emergency crews worked to contain the blaze.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky described the strike as “heinous,” saying on social media that “preliminary reports indicate two missiles struck an ordinary residential area.”

“Unfortunately, this is how the Russians treat life and people — they continue killing, despite all efforts by the world, and especially by the United States, in the diplomatic process,” Zelensky added.

Russia’s defence ministry rejected Ukraine’s claims, saying its forces “did not plan or carry out strikes using missiles or air strikes within the city limits of Kharkiv.” The ministry accused Ukraine of attempting “to distract international attention from the brutal terrorist attack against civilians” in Khorly.

The war, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated eastern Ukraine, and forced millions to flee their homes.

The Kharkiv strike followed deadly violence in the southern Kherson region, where Moscow-installed officials said a drone attack hit a café and hotel in the Russian-held village of Khorly on the Black Sea coast. Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson, said three unmanned aerial vehicles struck the site, killing at least 20 people, with preliminary reports indicating that more than 50 others were injured.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal probe into the incident, while Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of carrying out what she described as a “terrorist attack” against civilians. Ukrainian authorities had not commented on the incident at the time.

Khorly lies on a peninsula along the Black Sea coast and came under Russian control during the early phase of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Later that year, Ukrainian forces retook large parts of the Kherson region, including the regional capital, during a counter-offensive, leaving the Dnieper River as the front line, across which both sides frequently launch drone and artillery strikes.

The incident came amid reports from President Zelensky that Russia had intensified drone attacks, launching more than 200 drones overnight, largely targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. He accused Moscow of deliberately prolonging the war into the New Year.

Diplomatic activity has also intensified. US, European, and Ukrainian officials have increased coordination aimed at ending the conflict. US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he held a “productive call” with senior officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ukraine, focusing on security guarantees, deconfliction mechanisms, and a proposed “prosperity package” to support Ukraine’s long-term recovery.

As accusations fly and diplomacy continues alongside escalating strikes, civilians in cities like Kharkiv remain exposed to the daily toll of a war now approaching its fourth year.