6 dead, at least 11 injured in Russian strikes on Kharkiv: Regional officials

At least six people have died and 11 are injured after two Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv Saturday, local officials said online.

According to a post from Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, Russian rockets hit the city “at midnight, while the people of Kharkiv were sleeping peacefully.”

“Six people died. Another eleven civilians are currently in hospitals in the city,” Terekhov said on Telegram, translated to English.

Terekhov said at least nine apartment buildings, three dormitories, two kindergartens, two other schools, a gas station and other shops were all damaged in the strike. More than 3,600 windows “were broken at once,” he said.

Local emergency officials, law enforcement and volunteer organizations are working at the destruction sites. Water has been restored to all houses in the area, he said.

“Russia is a killer state! And sooner or later she will answer for every life she destroyed,” Terekhov’s translated post said.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the strikes.

“Overnight Russia launched another attack against Kharkiv — Ukraine’s 2nd largest city — killing 6 civilians, injuring others & damaging homes & schools,” Brink said in the post. “There is not a second to lose to support Ukraine’s fight to defend its people from such horrific and unprovoked attacks.”

The strikes, first reported by Reuters, were partially intercepted by Ukraine’s military. The Ukrainian military posted on Facebook that its air defenses destroyed 28 of 32 drones and three of the six missiles launched their way.