For the first time since 2022, Russia launched aircraft bombs into the northern city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, injuring 16 people and killing at least one civilian, according to local authorities.
The city's emergency surgery facility as well as a number of residential structures were damaged by the attacks, which resulted in extensive damage.
In recent days, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine, striking energy facilities nationwide and unleashing multiple missile barrages on the nation's capital, Kyiv, ostensibly in revenge for recent Ukrainian airstrikes on the Russian border region of Belgorod. On the other hand, these intermittent attacks have been typical of the war.
The front line, where Russian and Ukrainian forces have been engaged in combat for more than two years since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is crossed by the Kharkiv region. Drones and missile attacks are common in the area.
In a post on Telegram, Sergey Bolvinov, the chief of Kharkiv's investigative police department, stated that the attack on Wednesday was the first time aerial munitions had been used since 2022. Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, also disclosed the use of aerial munitions.
The latest flare-up occurs as fatigued Ukrainian forces battle manpower and ammunition shortages and mounting Russian pressure along the front line, which spans more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).
In a recent change, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired one of his top security aides on Tuesday and appointed the head of the country's foreign intelligence agency in his place.
Oleksii Danilov was the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council when Zelenskyy fired him, expressing gratitude for his work in a late-night video speech on Tuesday. The president declared that Danilov will be "reassigned to another area" without offering a reason or any further information.
Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the former head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, took his place under Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy is the head of the National Security Council, which coordinates policies. Since October 2019, just a few months after Zelenskyy assumed office, Danilov has been in this role.
The firing comes after Zelenskyy's decision in February to remove Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the head of Ukraine's armed forces, and install Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi in his place. Zaluzhnyi's and the president's animosity increased when Ukraine's highly publicized summer counteroffensive in 2023 fell short of its objectives. Zaluzhnyi was appointed as the ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom this month.
