Russians drop FAB-500 glide bombs on Kharkiv for first time, injure 4

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, June 28 — On June 27, at about 3:53 p.m., the Russian army dropped two FAB-500 bombs on a residential area in Kharkiv. Only one bomb exploded. The attack injured four people, reported Volodymyr Tymoshko, the head of the Kharkiv regional police. This is the first time Russia used this type of glide bomb to strike the city. 

Russia attacks Kharkiv region and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that’s 19 miles from the border, often since the start of the full-scale invasion, targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The attacks have intensified since Russia started its new offensive north of the region in May 2024.

The Russians attacked Kharkiv with FAB-500 bombs on June 27, 2024 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

Tymoshko reported that the Russians made the bombs that attacked Kharkiv less than a month ago. FAB-500 is a 500-kg bomb with an explosive warhead, modified with a gliding kit that allows Russians to launch it from over the border, which is beyond the reach of Ukraine’s air defence. It’s also  more powerful than the KAB- and FAB-250 bombs that the Russians use daily to bomb Kharkiv and the region. 

The Russians attacked Kharkiv with FAB-500 bombs on June 27, 2024 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

The attack damaged the windows of two buildings of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute and a residential building near the university. The attack on a residential area injured a man. He sustained an explosive wound with damage to his lower limbs, and three other people suffered acute stress reactions.

The Russians attacked Kharkiv with FAB-500 bombs on June 27, 2024 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

According to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Oleksandr Filchakov, the Russian army launched the FAB-500 bombs from an SU-34 aircraft from Mayskoye in the Belgorod region (Russia). It flew for about 40 miles from the launch location to the hit site in Kharkiv. 

Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the region, said on Ukrainian TV on June 27 that, this year, the Russians hit civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv Oblast over 2,100 times.

Russians hit the Kharkiv Oblast with “738 glide bomb attacks, 292 missile attacks, 270 artillery strikes, 221 attacks from multiple rocket launchers, and 155 drone strikes,” according to Syniehubov. 

Photo credits: The Russians attacked Kharkiv with FAB-500 bombs on June 27, 2024 / Photo: Ivan Samoilov for Gwara Media

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• The Russian shelling injured ten people in the Kharkiv region over the past day, reported Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkiv Oblast Governor.