Russian shells on Kharkiv leave four dead and 60 injured - including a baby - after 'most powerful attack since the start of the war in Ukraine'
At least four people have been killed and more than 60 people injured after Russia unleashed 'the most powerful attack' since the start of the war with Ukraine, officials said on Saturday.
Drones, missiles and guided bombs pelted down on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv during the overnight assault, with the injured said to include a baby.
One of Ukraine's largest cities, Kharkiv is located just a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border and has been under constant Russian shelling during more than three years of war.
'Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,' city mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on Telegram on Saturday.
Dozens of explosions were heard in the city throughout Friday night and Russian troops were striking simultaneously with missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs, he said.
Multi-storey and private residential buildings, educational and infrastructure facilities were attacked, Terekhov noted.
Photographs released by local authorities and Reuters showed burnt and partially destroyed houses and vehicles, and of rescuers carrying those injured to safety and removing debris.
Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said that one of the city's civilian industrial facilities was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, causing a fire, adding there may still be people under the rubble.
In the evening, Russian aircraft once again attacked Kharkiv with guided bombs, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called 'another brutal murder'.
'It was a brutal blow to the city in broad daylight, and in fact, they have been attacking our city of Kharkiv for the entire day,' Zelenskiy said in his evening statement.
'Last night, there was a massive drone strike on Kharkiv, and now there are aerial bombs. Dozens of people have been injured in the past 24 hours.' he said.
The Ukrainian military said Russia launched 206 drones, two ballistic and seven other missiles against Ukraine overnight.
It said its air defence units shot down 87 drones while another 80 drones were lost - in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them - or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads.
Ten locations were hit, the military reported.
The attack took place amid a stalling of a large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine expected to have taken place this weekend.
Both sides accused the other of delaying and thwarting the swap, which has been the only concrete outcome of peace talks to date.
At talks in Istanbul on Monday, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those aged under 25 who had been captured - more than 1,000 people on each side.
Russia said it would also hand back the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers.
Moscow on Saturday accused Ukraine of not turning up to collect the bodies and not agreeing a date to swap the captured soldiers, while Kyiv said Russia was playing 'dirty games' by not sticking to the agreed parameters for the exchange.
'The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,' Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media.
A defence ministry spokesman said 'the Ukrainian side is still refraining from setting a date' for the first stage of the prisoner swap.
The exchange was set to be the largest of the war, topping last month's 1,000-for-1,000 swap that was agreed at a first round of talks in Istanbul.
After the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
Responding to Russia's accusations, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been agreed for the return of bodies.
It also said a list of names Russia said would be released did not match the terms of the agreement.
'Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations,' it said in a statement on social media.
'We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days,' it added.
Following the attack on Kharkiv, Zelensky urged Kyiv's Western backers to heap more 'pressure' on Russia, with at least 10 people killed in the barrage.
Three people were also killed in the frontline Donetsk region, which has seen the most intense fighting of the war, and three more in the Kherson region, also partially occupied by Moscow's forces.
Since Russia invaded in February 2022, tens of thousands have been killed, with millions forced to flee their homes as cities and villages across eastern Ukraine have been destroyed.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage.
Russia's defence ministry said it had launched a 'group strike' against 'military-industrial' facilities in Ukraine.
Despite talks, the two sides have made no progress towards halting the fighting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine as preconditions to a truce.
They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support and a ban on Ukraine joining NATO.
Zelensky has rejected them as 'old ultimatums' and on Saturday repeated his call for sanctions on Moscow.
'The Russians are preparing to continue the war, ignoring all peace proposals. They must be held accountable for this,' he said in his evening address.
'Pressure forced Russia to enter the negotiation process. Pressure can force Russia to become realistic in the negotiation process,' he added.
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