Ukrainian official says Kharkiv has been hit by 53 strikes in 24 hours
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been hit with 53 artillery and rocket launches over the past 24 hours, according to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov.
In a video post on Telegram, Sinegubov explained, "Our Armed Forces are constantly fighting to prevent the enemy from passing to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russians continue to terrorize civilians. Unfortunately, during the past 24 hours, 22 civilians, including three children, were injured in the shelling of the region. Seven people died."
Kharkiv is approximately 30 miles from the Russian border and is believed to be a primary target for Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine. The city sits along a major thoroughfare that Russian forces will need to take to head south towards Donetsk and Luhansk.
“Our residential areas continue to suffer rocket attacks,” Sinegubov added. “I ask Kharkiv residents to be careful. We have posted pictures on social media that show what these mines look like. Please do not approach them or try to destroy or move them yourselves.”
Kharkiv has been under heavy fire since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24th.
Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv had a prewar population of 1.4 million.