Fighting escalates for many of Ukraine’s largest cities. In Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country, there were reports of attacks with missiles, artillery and elite Russian soldiers.
The Kharkiv regional police station was hit by a missile on Wednesday morning, UNIAN news agency reported according to the Kyiv Independent newspaper. Images from places show visible flames and great destruction.
According to the list on Google Maps, the building belongs to the Security Service of the Ukrainian Police.
In addition, one of the buildings located across the street of Karazin National University will catch fire. BBC.
In recent days, Kharkiv has come under heavy pressure from Russian forces, most recently on Tuesday The city hall that was hit by Russian missiles.
With a population of just over 1.5 million, it is the second largest city in Ukraine. In addition, it is located only about 40 kilometers from the border with Russia, in the far north-east of the country.
On Wednesday night, the Ukrainian army announced its entry You fight with Russian paratroopers in the city, Any elite soldiers, and that these, among other things, must have attacked a hospital.
Oleg Senegubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, claims on Telegram That 21 people were killed by artillery shelling in the city during the day yesterday, and that 112 were injured. It is unclear whether it is civilian or military.
– This is definitely a war crime. A peaceful city, with peaceful residential areas, without military objectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech published on Facebook Tuesday morning.
Case is updated!
Claims seized a coastal town
The Russian invasion force has also tried to infiltrate the port city of Kherson in recent days, and local authorities on Tuesday told Reuters that Russian soldiers entered the city.
And the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, claimed, on Wednesday morning, that the armed forces had captured the area Complete control of the city.
The city is located in the south of the country – relatively close to Crimea in the Black Sea that Russia annexed in 2014.
The provincial governor, for his part, confirmed that the city was completely surrounded, but he did not confirm the control of the Russian forces over the city, according to Reuters.
British intelligence Wednesday morning reports that the Russian invasion force has gained relatively little territory in the past 24 hours, despite the fact that it now controls Kherson in the south:
– This is probably due to the ongoing logistical challenges and the strong Ukrainian opposition, they wrote.
Need ground soldiers to hold cities
British intelligence reported, on Tuesday morning, that the Russian invasion force had increased the use of artillery north of Kyiv, as well as near the cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv.
However, this is not enough for the invasion force to be able to take control of Ukrainian cities, according to Bali Yedistibo, commander of the Land Force Department at the War School.
On NRK nyhetsmorgen He points out that there is a need for soldiers on the ground to take control of a city, and that this is probably the reason for sending Russian paratroopers to Kharkiv:
– The Russian paratroopers, or VDV as they are known, are elite soldiers as such.
– You don’t need a lot of them, but they are very good and can take on this kind of task. To me, it makes perfect sense that they deployed paratroopers, he tells NRK.
This happened the night before Wednesday:
- According to the Ukrainian authorities, four people were killed in one accident Attack in Zhytomyr Northwest Ukraine.
- US President Joe Biden Praised the Ukrainian people in Annual speech on the state of the Kingdom. At the same time, he announced that the United States would close the airspace to Russian aircraft.
- The Ukrainian army claims it Russian paratroopers landed in the city of Kharkiv, It is located in the northeast of Ukraine. There have been many matches here in recent days.
- In the Black Sea city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, Russian forces have taken control of the railway station and port facility, according to Mayor Igor Kulekhaev.
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