Attacks by Russia kill two in east Ukraine; 33 hurt in Kharkiv
A man trains a garden hose on the burning wreckage of a car following a Russian bomb attack on an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 24.
KHARKIV, Ukraine - Two people were killed in a Russian strike on eastern Ukraine on July 24 and at least 33 were wounded when Russian glide bombs struck a residential neighbourhood in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional officials said.
The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office in eastern Ukraine said the two deaths were in the city of Kostiantynivka, where 12 people were also wounded.
In Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 10-year-old child and a month-old infant were among those hurt when Ukraine's second-largest city was hit by two glide bombs - air-launched munitions fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision.
'These are utterly senseless strikes with no military purpose whatsoever,' President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
Thick black smoke billowed above the northern district of Kharkiv where a local business and an apartment bloc were damaged. Stunned residents fled, with some clutching children and flames engulfing parked cars.
'I looked around and everything was smashed,' said Mr Yevhen Hanushchak, holding a crate with his cat outside a damaged apartment building.
'Tons of smoke, people running and screaming, grabbing their things.'
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Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up airstrikes on Ukrainian towns and cities since talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in its nearly three and a half year old war in Ukraine stalled this year.
Glide bombs have been particularly devastating in areas closer to the battlefield.
The regional prosecutors said the July 24 attack was launched nearly 100km away. REUTERS
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