This story will be updated as it develops. 

UPD from May 21, 7:53 a.m.: Olena Shapoval, a spokesperson of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, told Gwara Media that Russia injured five people with an overnight drone attack on Kharkiv.

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, May 20 — At about 2:15 a.m., Kharkiv residents reported hearing several explosions. Russia attacked Kharkiv with several drone strikes, injuring at least four, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on his Telegram channel. 

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote that Russia hit “one of Kharkiv residents’ favorite spots for leisure” with Iranian-made Shahed drones. People injured in the drone strikes received medical aid on-site. Three of them have acute stress responses. 

Terekhov and Syniehubov reported private houses catching fire in the aftermath of the Russian attack. 

Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast of Ukraine with a population of 1.2 million. Russia attacks it frequently because of its proximity to the border (18 miles) and frontline. 

On May 10, Russia launched a new ground offensive north and northeast of the Kharkiv Oblast. Since then, Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region have come under Russian missile, drone, and glide bomb attacks even more often. 

On May 19, a Russian glide bomb attack on Kharkiv injured two people and damaged burial sites and a gas station. 

The same day, Russia hit Cherkaska Lozova, a village in Kharkiv suburbs, with a double-tap missile strike, killing seven people, including a pregnant woman, and injuring 28, including a child. Preliminary investigation shows they used Iskander-M missiles. 

In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs two Patriot systems to protect Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast. 

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