By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - At least seven people were injured due to overnight Russian airstrikes in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, as well as those that took place during the day, local authorities said on Sunday.
“At 00:50 (2150GMT), the occupiers struck Kharkiv (city) with drones, damaging a private house. A 62-year-old man was injured. He suffered shrapnel wounds. A 64-year-old woman and an 87-year-old man were treated on the spot,” Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.
Synyehubov further said that about 20 settlements in the Kharkiv region were hit by Russian artillery and mortar attacks.
Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, later claimed in a statement on Telegram that the country’s air defense downed 17 Russian attack drones over the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Poltava regions.
No reports on casualties were given by authorities in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions.
Later in the day, Synyehubov reported that four other people were injured after four missiles struck multiple districts of Kharkiv.
“The enemy struck the central park and the industrial zone, where a house was damaged and a garage was on fire as a result of the attack,” Synyehubov added.
The airstrikes came a day after six people were killed and more than 10 injured during overnight and daytime airstrikes on the city, located just 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Russia's border.
Russia's war on Ukraine, which broke out in February 2022, has claimed the lives of at least 10,500 civilians and injured more than 20,000 others, according to the latest UN figures.