CNN
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Russia attacked Ukraine’s second-largest city early on Saturday with a massive strike, said it was one night after Moscow carried out one of the biggest air attacks of the war against Ukraine.
Russia has recently conducted extensive attacks on Ukraine. This is seen as retaliation for a bold drone operation by Kiev, which has debilitated more than a third of Moscow’s strategic cruise missile carriers.
Kalkiv, the northeastern city, located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border, was shaken by “at least 40 explosions” on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring more than a dozen.
“Harkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of a full-scale war,” Telekov said. “The enemy is simultaneously impressive with missiles, (drones) and guided air bombs. This is a complete fear of peaceful Karkiv.”
A video released by the emergency services showed a large fire burning in a multi-storey apartment block in the city’s southwest Osnowivansky district where Telekov said two people had died. He said one was killed in a strike that raided a home in the Kibsky district to the north.
According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, more than 50 drones, four guided air bombs and missiles were used in the attack, damaging the city’s management buildings and music schools.
The injured include a 14-year-old girl and a six-month-old boy suffering from “acute stress.”
According to CNN tally of local government figures, Russian attacks in the country have killed at least seven people and injured more than 40 others since Friday morning.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said on Saturday that it had fired down a Russian SU35 fighter jet as part of a “successful air force operation in Kursk direction.”
Russia did not immediately comment on the claim, but Russian military bloggers explained that the plane was lost and said the pilot was rescued.
A day ago, in clear retaliation against Ukrainian drone herds, Russia launched a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles across a wide strip of Ukraine, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others.
“They gave Putin a reason to enter last night and bomb hell,” US President Donald Trump told reporters late Friday on the Air Force.
Trump had previously warned that Russian retaliation was imminent after speaking to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear whether Putin intended to further escalate Moscow’s retaliation.
Trump is eager to end the three-year war, but is reluctant to impose new sanctions on Russia while the US urges war states to attack ceasefire contracts.
On Friday, he said he would use further sanctions against Russia “if necessary.”
“If you think Russia doesn’t make a deal or stop the bloodshed… I’ll use it if necessary,” he told reporters.
Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Istanbul on Monday for their second peace talks, but the meeting lasted more than an hour, with the only real result being an agreement to tackle a swap of another prisoner.
