Ukrainian forces continue to face a Russian offensive near Kharkiv as the war intensifies.
ADVERTISEMENTA missile strike in a suburb outside Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine killed six people and injured 28 others, according to local officials. A seven-month pregnant woman was among them.
A war crime investigation was opened in relation to the incident after allegations that Russia used a tactic aimed at killing civilians and rescue workers who arrived at the scene to help those caught in the first strike.
Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region last week, significantly adding to the pressure on Ukrainian forces as they await delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces were “continuing to advance into the depths of the enemy.”
However, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskzyy says Ukraine’s forces secured “stronger positions” and were “effectively destroying” Russian forces.
“The occupies fails to achieve its goal of stretching our forces thin and thus weakening Ukraine from a wide front from the Kharkiv to the Donetsk region,” he said on Sunday in his nightly address.
Ukraine’s forces are attempting to slow Russia by using bomb-laden drones to destroy military vehicles.
“On the ground we have to literally slalom between mortar shells,” said one Ukrainian soldier.