Russian forces have unleashed a barrage of drones, missiles, and guided aerial bombs across Ukraine, targeting residential areas in Kharkiv, Odesa, and the Dnipropetrovsk region, resulting in multiple casualties.
Deadly strikes on Kharkiv high-rises
On Sunday morning, Aug. 9, Russian forces targeted the Saltivka district in Kharkiv. Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported a direct hit on a multi-story residential building, which destroyed the seventh through tenth floors and left residents trapped under the rubble.
By 7:45 a.m. local time, Terekhov stated that at least 12 people had been injured.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration head Oleh Syniehubov confirmed that the drone strike killed two people and left another hospitalized with severe injuries, noting a total of six casualties in his update. Rescue operations remain ongoing as people are still trapped in the building.
Earlier, at 7:13 a.m., Terekhov reported that a second strike had hit a neighboring high-rise, warning residents that the enemy was “deliberately targeting residential buildings.”
Later, Terekhov said that the number of casualties in Kharkiv has risen to 37, including a 5-year-old boy, three people were killed.
Eleven people suffered blast injuries, two were poisoned by carbon monoxide, and eight others experienced an acute stress reaction.
Missile barrage targets Odesa
Early Sunday morning, Russian forces attacked Odesa with missiles, prompting a series of explosions across the city following Air Force warnings of incoming ballistic weapons.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration, reported that the strikes damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in several districts, leaving at least eight people injured.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the scene to provide medical assistance and extinguish vehicle fires.
Attacks on Pavlohrad and Izium
The Sunday assaults followed a wave of attacks on Saturday, Aug. 8. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian forces struck the city center of Pavlohrad.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, reported that the strike ignited a private house and a vehicle.
By Saturday evening, the casualty toll in Pavlohrad had risen to nine injured, including four children: a three-month-old girl, a three-year-old girl, and two boys aged five and six. A 58-year-old woman was hospitalized in severe condition.
Earlier on Saturday evening, at approximately 8:35 p.m., Russian forces dropped two guided aerial bombs (KABs) on Izium in the Kharkiv region.
Regional authorities reported that the bombs struck a non-functioning civilian facility, causing a blast wave that damaged four apartment buildings and over a dozen vehicles.
Between five and seven civilians sustained injuries of varying severity, including an 18-year-old man and an 87-year-old woman.
Sumy train and Kherson drone strikes
The weekend violence also included relentless drone activity. On Saturday morning, a Russian drone struck the locomotive of the Sumy-Kyiv passenger train.
The crew evacuated passengers before the impact, preventing any casualties.
In the south, Russian forces conducted multiple daytime drone strikes across Kherson on Saturday, injuring at least four civilians in the Korabelny district.
These attacks followed a targeted Friday evening drone strike on a Kherson medical facility, which injured four medical workers and a police officer.
The weekend assaults come on the heels of a deadly overnight ballistic missile and drone barrage against the Kyiv region on Friday, which killed one person in the capital and three people, including a three-year-old boy, in the Brovary district.