Russian Drone Strikes Injure Children, Spark Fires Across Kharkiv

Russian forces launched two drone attacks on Kharkiv early on Thursday, June 12, hitting several districts and injuring at least 14 people, including four children.

The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration (OVA), Oleh Synehubov, reported on Telegram that the wounded include a 2-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl, and two others aged 16 and 17.

According to him, in the Shevchenkivskyi District, a drone struck the grounds of an educational institution, igniting grass and debris, its blast also shattered windows in a nearby multi-story residential building.

Another Geran-2 [Russian built version of Iran’s Shahed] UAV hit the ground, damaging windows in three nearby apartment buildings, with debris causing additional grass fires covering an area of about 100 square meters (1,100 square feet).

In the Slobidskyi District, a drone strike set a store ablaze, with the fire spreading across 200 square meters (2,150 square feet). The store building sustained significant damage.

In the Saltivskyi District, a drone hit a residential high-rise, setting civilian cars on fire and damaging the building’s facade.

Another drone struck the roof of a nine-story apartment building, causing a fire. Another unexploded drone was later discovered on the roof of a nearby warehouse.

Renewed Russian air strikes in Kharkiv early Wednesday morning had killed four civilians and injured 60 others, including children.

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Russian forces launched at least 17 Shahed / Geran-2 drones on two districts of the city. The strikes hit residential buildings, private homes, and industrial facilities, igniting fires. Shops, kiosks, cars, trolleybuses, and other civilian infrastructure were also damaged.

President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the attack on Kharkiv in a Telegram post, writing:

“Every new day brings another vile Russian strike, and almost every strike is a deliberate demonstration. Russia deserves greater pressure. With every hit on civilian life, it proves that the existing pressure is not enough.”

He stressed that the world must not be afraid or delay decisions that would make Russia’s position more difficult.

“Without this, they will not engage in real diplomacy. And this depends primarily on the United States and other world leaders. Everyone who has called for an end to the killings and for diplomacy must act,” the president added.