(Kyiv) At least seven people were killed Friday in Russian strikes on Kharkiv in Ukraine and five in Ukrainian shelling on Belgorod in Russia, according to local authorities, who also reported dozens of injuries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the dismissal of the commander of the air force, a few days after the crash of an F-16 fighter jet, a valuable military equipment recently delivered to Kyiv by its Western allies after about two years of waiting.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, located in the northeast about 40 kilometers from the Russian border, was targeted on Friday by a Russian gliding bomb, a particularly destructive weapon, Ukrainian authorities said.
An 11-story building was hit and at least seven people were killed, including a 14-year-old girl, according to Igor Terekhov, the mayor of the city, which had a population of 1.4 million before the war.
PHOTO VITALII HNIDYI, REUTERS
Firefighters evacuate a girl from a building hit by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, August 30, 2024.
The attack also left at least 59 people injured, including nine children aged between five and 16, according to regional governor Oleg Synegoubov.
An AFP journalist in the city heard loud explosions.
The region’s governor shared a video showing cars and apartments on fire, billowing thick black smoke.
Volodymyr Zelensky assured that “this strike could not have taken place” if the West had allowed his country to target Russia in depth with the long-range missiles that were supplied to it.
Most Western countries have so far refused to do so, fearing an escalation with Moscow.
“We need strong decisions from our partners to put an end to this terror,” Zelensky said. “There is no rational reason to limit Ukraine’s defense,” he insisted.
Cluster bombs
On the Russian side, at least five people were killed and 37 injured on Friday in a Ukrainian strike on the city and region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine.
According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, this attack was “carried out by the Ukrainian armed forces using cluster munitions fired from Vampire MLRS (multiple rocket launchers, editor’s note) on the city of Belgorod and the Belgorod region.”
Six children were among the injured, three of whom were “in serious condition,” he said on Telegram. Three residential buildings and other buildings were damaged.
Cluster bombs, which are supplied by the United States to Ukraine, are controversial because they disperse small explosive charges that are dangerous to civilians. They are banned by many countries, particularly in Europe.
F-16 crash
PHOTO EFREM LUKATSKY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
An F-16 fighter similar to the one that crashed on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also announced on Friday that he had dismissed Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk.
While he did not explain the reasons for this decision, it comes a day after the announcement of the crash of an F-16 plane and the death of its pilot, Oleksiy Mes, trained in the United States. The incident took place on Monday, during a massive attack by Russian missiles and drones.
Little information has been provided about this episode by the Ukrainian authorities.
According to Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezugla, a member of the parliament’s defence committee, the plane was mistakenly shot down by a Patriot air defence system “due to poor coordination between units.”
In eastern Ukraine, where most of the fighting is taking place despite the surprise offensive launched in early August by Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region of Kursk, Russian troops have continued their advance.
The Russian army claimed on Friday the capture of three new villages: Novojelanné and Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region, and Synkivka, in the Kharkiv region.
Mr Zelensky acknowledged on Wednesday that the situation was “extremely difficult” for the Ukrainian army near Pokrovsk, a major logistics hub from which Russian soldiers are now less than ten kilometres away.