Governor: Russia struck Kharkiv region 2,500 times since beginning of year

KHARKIV OBLAST, UKRAINE, Apr 16 — Since the beginning of this year, Russia has conducted 2,500 attacks on civilian targets and critical infrastructure in the Kharkiv Oblast, including 150 missile attacks, said Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, during the national telethon.

Russians shell Kharkiv Oblast daily: it borders Russia, and it’s close to the frontline. According to Oleh Syniehubov, Russia strikes the towns and villages of the region with S-300 missiles, Iranian-made Shahed drones, or guided bombs, which they have been using more actively since the end of March. 

The northern districts of the region are most severely impacted by the Russian shelling. At 2:08 p.m. on April 15, the Russian Federation dropped a guided aerial bomb on an educational institution in the village of Lukiantsi, in the Lyptsi community of Kharkiv district. Four civilians were injured due to the attack: two women, aged 63 and 66, and two men, aged 38 and 65. Two men, of 63 and 65 years, were killed.

Syniehubov said that, as of today, evacuation from Lukiantsi has been completed.

On April 11, the governor reported that the Regional Defense Council announced a mandatory evacuation for families with children in 47 frontline settlements of the Kharkiv Oblast, noting that routes for evacuation of children and safe places for evacuated people to live have already been selected.

Today, Syniehubov said about 140 families with children remain in those dangerous districts. They are to be evacuated as well.

Photo credits: A resident of Velyki Prokhody, Kharkiv region. Russians dropped an aerial bomb on the village on April 11, 2024. Her house, destroyed by the bomb, is behind her. / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

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• “I pulled myself from under the piece of ceiling.” On April 11, at around 4:00 p.m., Russians dropped an aerial bomb on Velyki Prokhody, injuring four people. The village is located about 18 miles northeast of Kharkiv and less than 7 miles from the border with Russia. Our team went there the next day. Read the photo story here.