Russian guided bombs killed at least two people and injured 13 in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, local officials said, as Russia continues its major military offensive in the region.
It was not immediately clear who the bombs were targeting on Friday, but the regional governor said those injured were civilians.
“Among the 13 injured, four are in serious condition,” Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and the surrounding region have long been targets of Russian attacks, but attacks have become more intense in recent months, targeting civilian and energy infrastructure.
Reporting from Kharkiv on Friday, Al Jazeera’s John Holman said several attacks were heard and a “thick, black cloud of smoke” was visible.
“We still don’t know what was hit – whether it was factories or residential infrastructure,” he said, adding that the city also suffered drone attacks.
“Yesterday, there was actually 16 and a half hours of air raid warning. This is the longest period since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022” by Russia against Ukraine, Holman said.
“There is a feeling that this region is currently being squeezed,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to reduce Kharkiv to rubble.
Moscow has denied deliberately targeting civilians, but thousands of people have been killed and injured since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the offensive in the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia, aims to create a buffer zone and that the Kremlin has no plans to capture the city of Kharkiv.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to China, Putin said Moscow launched its attacks in response to Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region.
“I have said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a safe zone, a sanitary zone,” the Russian leader said. “That’s what we’re doing.”
He added that Russian troops “advanced daily according to plan.”
‘Under control’
Putin’s comments were the first on the Kharkiv offensive, which began on May 10. The operation opened a new front in the war and displaced thousands of Ukrainians within days.
The comments also came hours after a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula caused power cuts in the city of Sevastopol, after an earlier attack damaged aircraft and fuel storage at an air base.
Russian authorities said Friday’s attacks also set fire to a refinery.
Zelenskyy traveled to Kharkiv this week as the Ukrainian military claimed to have managed to partially halt the Russian advance.
Most notably, the army said it prevented Russia from taking Vovchansk, 5 km (3 miles) from the Russian border.
“The situation in the Kharkiv region is generally under control and our soldiers are inflicting significant losses on the occupier,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Thursday.
“However, the area remains extremely difficult.”
New laws
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said he does not believe the Russian military has the troop numbers to make a strategic advance into the Kharkiv region and is confident that Ukrainian forces will hold their lines there.
In an effort to increase troop numbers, Zelenskyy on Friday signed two laws, one to allow prisoners to join the army and another that increases fines for draft dodgers fivefold.
The mobilization law comes into force on Saturday.
The legislation allows “conditional release from serving a sentence and subsequent enlistment for military service under a contract during a special period” for certain categories of people accused of crimes.
Does not include those convicted of crimes against Ukraine’s national security.
Ukrainian forces are currently expecting delays in deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners.
The lack of manpower is seen by some military analysts as Ukraine’s biggest problem. Weapons supplies that have suffered significant delays, especially from Washington, are expected to soon reach the front lines.
Denmark said it would send Ukraine a new military aid package, mainly air defense weapons and artillery, worth around 5.6 billion kronor ($815.5 million).
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
