7 injured in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in Russian airstrikes

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least seven people were injured on Wednesday in the city of Chuhuiv in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region due to a Russian airstrike.

“The number of victims in Chuhuiv increased to seven. A 41-year-old woman was hospitalized. A 42-year-old woman also asked for help. Both are in average condition,” Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.

Synyehubov said in an earlier statement that Russia struck the center of the city, located about 38 kilometers (23 miles) from the city of Kharkiv and about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the Russian border, as a result of which a kindergarten was damaged.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack targeted energy facilities in the neighboring Sumy region.

A statement by the Sumy Regional Military Administration said a drone attack was launched by Russia on energy facilities in the cities of Shostka and Konotop, located about 44 kilometers (27 miles) and 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the Russian border, respectively.

The statement further said that work is underway to restore the power supply in the region.

Meanwhile, an earlier statement said seven Russian drones were downed over the region by the country’s air defenses.

Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, said on Telegram that the country’s air defenses downed 24 drones over the Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Sumy, and Odesa regions.

Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attacks.

On May 10, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces attempted to breach the country’s defenses in the Kharkiv region, opening a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that is concentrated in the country’s east and south.

Clashes in the region have intensified since then, particularly near Vovchansk, located about 74 kilometers (45 miles) from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Russia claims to have seized control of multiple border settlements since the start of its offensive on the Kharkiv front, while more than 10,500 people from the region’s Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, and Kharkiv districts have been evacuated due to the ongoing clashes.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, claimed Russia planned a similar operation in the Sumy region, where he said small groups of Russian troops are located, but that the situation has not yet allowed them to take actions toward the region.