(Updated: )
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russian forces struck Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Sept. 24, killing at least three and injuring 34 people, local authorities reported.
Russia bombarded the city with guided aerial bombs, targeting densely populated districts, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported at around 3:30 p.m. local time. Kharkiv's four districts were under attack, with residential high-rise buildings damaged in the Kyivskyi and Saltivskyi districts.
Terekhov said that Russia used eight FAB-250 bombs in the attack, while Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that one of the strikes was carried out with a FAB-500 bomb.
One of the high-rise buildings came under a direct Russian strike, according to Syniehubov.
People are trapped under the rubble; emergency services are continuing search and rescue operations at the scene, Syniehubov added.
Terekhov said that one of the buildings, which was damaged in the Kyivskyi district, had already been attacked in the beginning of the full-scale invasion. According to the mayor, it was almost repaired, insulated, and prepared for the heating season before Russian forces struck it again.
Some 82 people lived in the section of the building that suffered the most severe damage, Terekhov said. "We are now trying to contact all of them to find out if people are under the rubble," he added.
One of the strikes also hit a food industry enterprise, Terekhov said at around 5:30 p.m. local time. The local authorities later clarified that Russia attacked a bakery plant with a FAB-500 gliding aerial bomb, killing one person and injuring eight others.
The youngest victim is a 17-year-old girl, while the oldest is an 87-year-old woman. The majority of the injured are in moderate condition, with four people in serious condition. Three people are in surgery as of 6 p.m. local time, according to Syniehubov.
Apart from hitting the building, a fire broke out at a recreation center in the Kyivskyi district due to the strike. The attack on the Saltivskyi district also damaged a sports ground, a kindergarten, several windows in apartment buildings, and a supermarket, the National Police reported.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is currently attending the U.N. General Assembly's High-Level Week in New York, condemned the Russian attack on Kharkiv and called on allies to "stop the terror."
"There is a lot of talk at the U.N. General Assembly about collective efforts for security and the future. But we just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have the future. We need Russia to stop this criminal and unprovoked aggression that violates all global rules," Zelensky said.
Kharkiv has been under constant Russian attacks for more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Francis Farrell
