Russia launched an attack on the village of Bohuslavka in Kharkiv Oblast killing one civilian and injuring two others, the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration reported on May 26.
The attack killed a 72-year-old woman and a nine-year-old boy was one of the two injured residents.
Another strike set fire to three houses in the nearby village of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi.
Russia launched a new offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast on May 10. Russian troops have reportedly suffered heavy losses during street battles in the town of Vovchansk, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 23.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian troops were stopped by Ukraine’s first line of defense after advancing 10 kilometers (6 miles) into the region. However, he later said on May 26 that Russia is forming another grouping of troops near Ukraine's northern border
"Right now, these days, we are defending ourselves 60 kilometers northeast from this place from yet another attempt of the Russian assault," Zelensky said in an address recorded at the Kharkiv printing house destroyed in a Russian May 23 strike that killed seven people.
"Russia is preparing for offensive actions also 90 kilometers northwest from here – they gather another group of troops near our border."
The regional capital Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has come under heavy attacks in recent days. Russian troops fired on a hypermarket in the city on May 25, with the death toll reaching 16 as of the time of writing.
Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of 123 children from 36 settlements in the country's northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, the Reintegration Ministry announced on May 24. Over 11,000 people have evacuated from Kharkiv Oblast since May 10.
Francis Farrell
