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Ukraine said Russia attacked the country’s second largest city with missiles and bombs. Russian state media and local officials earlier reported that Ukraine attacked power plants and refineries with drones.
Sept. 1, 2024Updated 8:58 a.m. ET
Russia on Sunday bombarded residential areas of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, with ballistic missiles and powerful guided bombs, killing at least five civilians, Ukrainian officials said. The attack came hours after what Russian authorities said was a wave of drone attacks against energy facilities across Russia, including an oil refinery in Moscow.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko of Ukraine said that at least 50 people were wounded in the attack on Kharkiv, a city of 1 .3 million situated less than 25 miles from the Russian border, in addition to the five killed.
At least 10 explosions rocked Kharkiv, local officials said, warning that they expected the number of casualties to rise as emergency crews raced across the city to various blast sites.
“The damage includes a Nova Poshta office, shops, a sports complex, a shopping center, and cars,” Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv military administration, said in a statement, referring to a post office. “The enemy targeted only civilian infrastructure.”
The city’s Palace of Sports, which features a 4,000-seat arena, was targeted by four strikes, Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee said in a statement. “The sports complex was destroyed,” the committee said.
Earlier, the Russian military claimed to have largely thwarted one of the largest Ukrainian drone assaults directed at Russia territory since the start of the full-scale war, and said it had shot down 158 drones across 15 regions.