KHARKIV: Russian attacks on major Ukrainian cities killed at least 10 people on Monday (Aug 18), hours before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to press his case in Washington against a quick deal to end Moscow’s war.
An entire family, including a toddler and her 16-year-old brother, were among the seven killed in an overnight drone strike on a residential neighbourhood in northeastern Kharkiv, authorities said. Twenty-three people were wounded, they said.
Three people were also killed in a ballistic missile strike on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional governor said, adding that another 23 were wounded.
In Kharkiv, rescuers carried out bloodied survivors to safety across debris and shattered glass. They shouted to others who remained stuck in the hulking wreckage of an apartment building.
A Reuters reporter witnessed medics attempting to resuscitate the toddler, whose clothing was tattered and body was coated in dust.
“An ordinary apartment block … families with small children, a children’s playground, a residential compound,” said resident Olena Yakusheva while fighting back tears.
“We were just living here and enjoying our little building.”
Zelenskyy, who called the attacks “demonstrative and cynical”, was preparing for talks with Donald Trump amid fears the US president would pressure Ukraine into accepting a peace settlement favourable to Russia.
Kyiv, which is also fending off a grinding Russian offensive across much of the east, has warned that rewarding Moscow by giving away more Ukrainian territory would only embolden the Kremlin to continue its war, now in its fourth year.
“Putin will commit demonstrative killings to maintain pressure on Ukraine and Europe, as well as to humiliate diplomatic efforts,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
