Firefighters work on the web site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine February 10, 2024. REUTERS
KYIV — A Ukrainian prosecutor, her husband, and their three babies have been amongst seven individuals killed after a Russian drone assault on the northeastern metropolis of Kharkiv hit an oil depot, triggering blazes that burned half a road to the bottom, officers mentioned on Saturday.
The regional prosecutor’s workplace named the native prosecutor who died alongside together with her youngsters Oleksiy, 7, Mykhailo, 3, and 10-month-old Pavlo as Olha Putyatina and added, “The household was held hostage by a fireplace inside their very own dwelling.”
Putyatina, 35, was on maternity depart and had labored within the Kharkiv regional workplace since June 2012, in accordance with a message on its official Telegram channel. An aged couple residing in the identical road have been additionally killed within the assault that Mayor Ihor Terekhov mentioned injured 57 individuals and razed 15 houses.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned in his nightly video handle on Saturday that “Russian terrorists” can be held accountable. “It needs to be famous that in historical past, the perpetrators of such murders didn’t go unpunished,” he mentioned.
Terekhov known as a day of mourning for Sunday. All of these killed had lived on Kotelnia Avenue, Serhii Bolvinov, head of the investigative division of the Nationwide Police within the area, instructed reporters on the ruined road.
The Ukrainian air power mentioned air protection and cellular teams of drone hunters shot down 23 out of 31 Russian-launched drones that focused the areas of Kharkiv and Odesa, within the south.
Oleh Kiper, governor of Odesa area, mentioned that drone assault injured 4 individuals and broken industrial amenities, automobiles, and a few port infrastructure.
READ: Russia kilos Kharkiv with missiles and drones, Ukraine says
In Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Synehubov mentioned a number of drones hit the oil depot, inflicting gasoline to leak. Firefighters and rescuers labored by way of the evening to extinguish fires and clear the particles. Zelensky mentioned in his handle that 4 individuals had been rescued and dozens evacuated.
Synehubov additionally mentioned that Russian drones hit a restaurant within the small city of Velykyi Berluk, 100 km (60 miles) from Kharkiv. He reported no casualties there.
Russia didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Moscow has mentioned its forces don’t intentionally goal civilian websites.
Kharkiv has been beneath common assault because the begin of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has been a frequent goal of Russian assaults in current weeks.