A destroyed car is seen in front of a residential building which was heavily bombed by Russian forces. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian forces struck a residential building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv early Thursday (October 31, 2024), killing a 12-year-old boy and injuring scores of others.

Regional head Oleh Syniehubov said the boy was fatally injured when the building was hit by a Russian 500-kg (1,100-pound) glide bomb.

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“He was freed from under the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures,” Mr. Syniehubov wrote on his messaging app channel. “Doctors performed resuscitation measures for more than half an hour. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the child.”

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least 35 people suffered injuries in the attack and others could be still trapped under the rubble, including a missing 15-year-old boy.

Russia has increasingly used powerful glide bombs to pummel Ukrainian positions along the 1,000-km (600-mile) line of contact and strike cities dozens of km (miles) from the frontline. Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million, is about 30 km (less than 20 miles) from border.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly urged the United States to allow Ukraine to use long-range American missiles to strike air bases deeper in Russia that are used by aircraft carrying glide bombs. Washington so far only has allowed some strikes close to the border.

Mr. Zelenskyy repeated his demand Thursday (October 31), publishing a video showing the ravaged building, at least three of its floors destroyed and the rest of it seriously damaged.

“Partners see what is happening every day,” Mr. Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “And under these conditions, each of their delayed decisions means at least dozens, if not hundreds of such Russian bombs against Ukraine. Their decisions are the lives of our people. Therefore, we must together stop Russia and do it with all possible force.”

Early Thursday, Russia also fired 10 missiles of various types at the Dniester Estuary bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region, Ukraine’s air force said. However, only two of them were intercepted. The air force didn’t say whether the bridge was hit.

Russian forces also fired 43 exploding drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions; 17 were shot down, 23 jammed and three flew back to Russian-controlled territories, the air force said.

The head of the Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, said debris from some of the drones that were intercepted over the capital fell in the Podil district just north of the downtown, causing minor damage. According to Popko, there was only one day in October when Kyiv residents did not hear an air alert. So far in October, Kyiv heard two air alerts per day on average, repelling 20 actual aerial attacks targeting the city.

Ukraine struck back Thursday with drone attacks.

Authorities in the Russia-occupied city of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov reported a drone attack on the port early Thursday, saying three people were injured.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defences on Thursday downed 21 Ukrainian drones over several regions and the Black Sea.