UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Aug. 3 –  Throughout July Russia has launched 109 attacks on Kharkiv, killing 8 people, among them one child. Also the attacks injured 217 people, including 24 children, reported Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Nearly half of the attacks (51) were carried out using FPV (first-person view) drones. Of those, 45 drones detonated, while 6 failed to explode.

“On average, every second strike on Kharkiv was by FPV drone,” Terekhov said. 

According to the mayor, the growing use of FPV drones is a fundamentally different danger level, as they are difficult to detect, can be controlled via fiber-optic cables and they are targeting not only stationary objects, but also the moving ones. The city authorities are working together with the military and the Regional Military Administration to counter them, he added. 

“They [FPV drones] attack civilian cars: trucks, bread delivery vans, and vehicles delivering water to residents just on the move. During one week in July, more than half of the drones targeted transport and fuel infrastructure,” the mayor said.

In addition to FPV drones, Russian forces attacked Kharkiv with guided aerial bombs, jet-powered Shahed drones, Italmas and Molniya drones, Banderol hybrid missile-drone systems, Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system, and other weapons.

The Russian strikes hit residential buildings, hospitals and other medical facilities, educational institutions, civilian facilities, administrative buildings, and commercial properties. Also public transport, roads, power lines, gas pipelines, railway infrastructure, energy facilities, gas stations, and civilian vehicles were damaged.

Air raid alerts sounded 278 times over the course of the month, lasting a combined total of nearly 20 days.

Read more:

  • Russian drone strike on Kharkiv outskirts kills 1 
  • Fiber-optic cables of Russian FPV drones threaten forests in Kharkiv oblast

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