Russia attacked Kharkiv with at least 15 drones overnight, killing 3 rescuers in a double-tap strike 

KHARKIV, UKRAINE, Apr 4 — Starting from 01:16 a.m., Russia launched Shahed drone attack on Kharkiv, reports Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the Kharkiv Oblast. Russian drone strikes killed at least four people, three among them were first responders who were killed in a double-tap attack on the city.  

According to Syniehubov, Russia attacked the city with at least 15 drones. Ukrainian air defense forces downed some of them. 

In the Novobavarskyi district of Kharkiv, the drone strike damaged a residential apartment building. After the first responders arrived at the hit site, Russia hit the area with another drone attack in a double-tap attack, killing three workers of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service. 

Another Russian drone attacked a high-rise building in the same district, killing a 69-year-old woman and destroying balconies of the upper stories in the building, glassings, and other construction elements. 

At 02:49 a.m., the Russian army also hit Saltivskyi district. No injuries have been reported from the hit sites. 

Overall, during the night, Russian drone strikes killed four people. Currently, 12 people injured in the attacks are receiving medical help. 

Within the wider drone attack on the Kharkiv region on April 4, Russia also hit the Zmiiv thermal power plant; rescuers are cleaning up the aftermath of the strike. Kharkiv residents report power unplanned power outages. 

After the Russian combined missile and drone attack on the Kharkiv heat power plant on March 22, Kharkiv undergoes an electricity crisis, with the state’s energy provider imposing restrictions on power consumption in the city. 

Institute for the Study of War specialists suggested the strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure “may aim to degrade Ukrainian defense industrial capacity,” as Russians likely try to “exploit Ukrainian air defense missile shortages in a renewed attempt to collapse Ukraine’s energy grid.” 

Photo credits: Residential building after Russian drone attack on Kharkiv on April 4 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

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