Ukraine: at least seven dead in Russian strikes on Kharkiv

A wave of Russian missiles killedé Thursday at least seven people à Kharkiv, capital of the region of the same name in northeastern Ukraine where The Russian army has been leading an offensive for almost two weeks.

On the Eastern Front, where Russian troops have a string of tactical successes against a Ukrainian army lacking resources, Moscow has claimed the capture of the small village of Andriïvka, in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (east).

Ukraine, under strong pressure in the East, must also face an attack further north, against the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia. This offensive, which widened the combat zone, forced it to dispatch valuable reinforcements.

This region, almost entirely liberated during a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the fall of 2022, has already been suffering for months from deadly Russian bombings on residential areas or civilian infrastructure.

Thursday, a new strike on Kharkiv, the second city of the country and regional capital, caused the death of at least seven people and injured 16 others, the regional prosecutor's office said on Telegram.

“Missiles hit the “enclosure of a printing house”, in the Osnoviansky district, in the south of the city, indicated this source.

Photo posted on the Telegram account of Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office Oleksiy Kuleba on May 23, 2024 shows medical staff carrying a wounded man on a stretcher after a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv © Telegram/@oleksiykuleba – Handout

According to the Ukrainian authorities, this city, which had 1.5 million inhabitants before the invasion, was hit in the morning by 15 missiles.

In addition, seven people were injured by a strike on the center of Lioubotyn, a town west of Kharkiv, an attack which also damaged a park, shops and vehicles, according to the regional prosecutor's office.

– Lack of anti-aircraft defense –

In the Zaporizhzhia region (South), a 74-year-old civilian was killed by an artillery strike while he was working in the courtyard of his house in the village of Mala Tokmatchka, according to the governor of that territory Ivan Fedorov.

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Ukraine: positions of military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the strike on Kharkiv by once again pointing out the insufficient number of anti-aircraft defense assets that the West had agreed to deliver to him.

“Russian terrorists are taking advantage of the fact that Ukraine does not have sufficient air defense protection,” Zelensky said on the social network world, which does not dare to treat terrorists as they deserve,” he added.

On May 10, Russia launched a new ground attack on the Kharkiv region, occupying several villages and making its largest territorial gains since late 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an interview with AFP in kyiv, May 17, 2024 © AFP – Roman PILIPEY

Since the start of this new assault, nearly 11,000 civilians have been forced to leave their homes in the region, Governor Oleg Synegoubov said on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army launched the offensive on Kharkiv to create a buffer zone meant to protect Russian border territories from Ukrainian attacks.

– Russian advance near Bakhmut –

Russian authorities reported Thursday two deaths in Ukrainian attacks in the border region of Belgorod and the Ukrainian region of Donetsk (East ), partially occupied by the Russian army.

Firefighters in the rubble of houses hit by a Russian drone attack near Kharkiv, May 21, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – SERGEY BOBOK

The Ukrainian army is weakened by a shortage of troops and significant delays in Western military aid deliveries.

Since the failure of its offensive in the summer of 2023, it has lost the initiative and has suffered attacks from Russian forces, more numerous and better armed, which are eating away ground in the east of the country, without however managing to penetrate in depth.

In this dynamic, Moscow claimed Thursday the capture in the Donetsk region (east) from the locality of Andriïvka, about ten kilometers south of Bakhmut, a town conquered by Russia in May 2023 after a ten-month battle.

The day before, Russia had announced that it had taken a locality very close to Andriïvka, that of Klichtchiïvka, one of the rare localities liberated by Ukraine in 2023.

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