Zelensky Begs For Power To Hit Back After Russian Strike

At least seven people have been killed and two dozen injured after Russia yesterday launched a second massive airstrike on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region in as many days.

- TOM WATLING

The attack came after a Russian glide bomb, a deadly explosive nicknamed the “building destroyer” by pro-Kremlin military bloggers, obliterated a cafe and injured 10 people in the middle of the day on Wednesday.

Moscow’s forces are increasingly hammering the region’s capital, a city home to some 1.3 million people, as they attempt to press a ground assault on the wider area and stretch Ukrainian defences on the eastern front. Authorities said Russia fired about 15 missiles on the cities of Kharkiv and neighbouring Lubotyn yesterday, targeting mostly transport infrastructure and a printer in the region’s capital.

Images showed smoke pouring out of the Faktor Druk printing house, whose roof was torn open, as exhausted rescue workers brought bodies in bags out of the building amid the flames. At least 50 people were believed to be inside at the time of the strike.