2 people killed and dozens wounded in Russian attack on Kharkiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones hit a military hospital, shopping center, apartment blocks and other buildings in Kharkiv late Saturday, killing two people and wounding 35 others, Ukrainian officials said.

Regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said that a 67-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman were killed in the attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Ukraine’s General Staff denounced the “deliberate, targeted shelling” of the military hospital. Among the casualties were “servicemen who were undergoing treatment,” it said.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired 111 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Sunday. It said 65 of them were intercepted and another 35 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that over the past week “most regions of Ukraine” came under Russian attack. Writing on X, he said “1,310 Russian guided aerial bombs, over 1,000 attack drones — mostly ‘Shaheds’ — and nine missiles of various types, including ballistic ones” had been launched against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy also repeated his assertion that “Russia is dragging out the war," echoing comments he made Thursday in Paris that Russia is prolonging ceasefire talks "just to buy time and then try to grab more land.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down six Ukrainian drones. It also claimed Sunday that its troops had taken control of a village in Ukraine’s partly occupied Donetsk region. The Russian claim could not be independently verified, and Ukraine did not comment.

According to Ukrainian government and military analysts, Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in ceasefire talks.