Several people were injured in nighttime Russian air attacks on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian military officials.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said two people were hospitalized Sunday local time after Russia struck the city of Kharkiv with precision-guided bombs and damaged several residential buildings.
Kharkiv is the administrative center of the wider Kharkiv region.
The mayor said on the Telegram messaging channel that other attacks took place in the city later that night, partially damaging several buildings.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram that four more people were injured in the Kharkiv region later that night, after Russia launched further attacks.
Syniehubov added that a residential building was damaged in an attack on the town of Chuhuiv, but there were no injuries in the attack.
Moscow denies targeting civilians in the war that has raged in Ukraine since Russia's large-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports and there was no immediate comment from Russia.
Rescuers help residents evacuate a building hit by a Russian airstrike. (Reuters: State Emergency Service of Ukraine)
Drone attacks on Russian ethanol plants
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones targeted ethanol plants in southern Russia's Voronezh region, Russian channels on the Telegram app reported.
Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said the attack injured two people, started a fire and damaged two industrial enterprises.
He said on Telegram that firefighters extinguished the fire that injured the two workers in the Anninsky regional district.
Gusev added that around 10 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or intercepted over the region on Sunday evening, and debris damaged several buildings in the district and Novokhopersky district, southeast of Anninsky.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said only one Ukrainian drone was destroyed over the Voronezh region, out of a total of 21 shot down over its territory overnight.
Explosions were heard near an ethanol-alcohol plant in the village of Krasnoye, Novokhopersky district, Russian news channel Baza reported on Telegram.
According to the SHOT news channel, the fire broke out in a distillery in the village of Anna in Anninsky.
The factory is said to be close to Russian security services. Videos on social media show a large fire in a building illuminating the darkness.
Reports of damage to two distilleries could not be verified and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
However, kyiv has often stated that its drone attacks in Russia are a response to Moscow's continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.
“Ukraine and Northern Europe”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that cooperation under the “Ukraine plus Northern Europe” format was accelerating with new measures likely to increase pressure on Russia expected in the coming week.
The five Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland – are now all NATO countries and have all supported Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Sweden and Finland, which both share a border with Russia, joined the alliance earlier this year, with Stockholm saying Russia posed the main international threat to Sweden.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that cooperation with Northern Europe could increase pressure on Russia. (Reuters: Kacper Pempel)
Moscow said NATO enlargement was a dangerous historical mistake that would force it to take countermeasures.
The Nordic countries told Mr. Zelensky last year that they would support his country in its fight to oust Russian forces “for as long as it takes.”
Mr. Zelensky said in May that joint military assistance from the Nordic countries would amount to 6 billion euros this year under separate security agreements.
“They understand that it is necessary to create problems for the aggressor so that Russia loses the opportunity to spoil the life of the world,” Mr. Zelensky said in his daily video address on Sunday.
“We will discuss with the Nordic countries new fundamental measures that could increase pressure on Russia in this war and in the interests of honest diplomacy.”
Reuters
