Russia targeted Ukraine’s second-largest city in a massive drone strike overnight, marking the third consecutive drone assault from Moscow this week. The city of Kharkiv was hit with dozens of drones, with three people dying and nearly 60 injured.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the strikes mostly affected civilian infrastructure, with massive fires in apartment buildings. “There are direct hits on multistory buildings, private homes, playgrounds, enterprises and public transport,” Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app. “Apartments are burning, roofs are destroyed, cars are burnt, windows are broken.”
Ukrainian officials said their military shot down around 40 of the 80 drones. The unmanned aircraft mostly targeted the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Odesa regions.
Russia hasn’t acknowledged the attacks. Wednesday’s strikes follow a series of deadly drone offensives launched by Russia this week. On Tuesday, Moscow fired 300 drones and several missiles into Ukrainian territory, heavily targeting Kyiv.
This week’s attacks have been seen as a response to Ukraine’s unprecedented Operation Spiderweb from early last week, when Ukrainian drones destroyed or damaged dozens of heavy bombers on Russian airfields
