KHARKIV: Four people were killed in a wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday, the government said. Two people were killed near Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv overnight, Regional Governor Oleg Synegubov stated on Telegram.
The victims were identified as an elderly couple, aged 81 and 83, whose bodies were found under the rubble of their destroyed house.
In Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, two additional deaths occurred when a drone hit a 24-story building, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky reported. The strikes caused significant damage to transport infrastructure and residential areas, as well as energy facilities, leading to emergency power outages and planned cuts in parts of the city according to power company DTEK.
Further strikes included one on a university in Kremenchuk in the Poltava region, injuring two individuals, and attacks on energy facilities in regions such as Volyn, Odesa, and Mykolaiv. Koretsky noted that Russia had continuously struck multiple infrastructures, including railways and shopping centers, since Tuesday night.
The attacks escalate tensions ahead of US envoy Steve Witkoff’s scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday. Witkoff previously concluded “constructive” talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the talks as “positive” amid ongoing tensions between Kyiv and Washington.
