ISTANBUL 

At least three people were killed and 29 others injured on Saturday in a Russian airstrike on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv.

“Updated data as of 5:00 p.m. (1500GMT): three people were killed and 29 others were injured today as a result of the Russian attack on Kharkiv,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.

More than 250 rescuers and police officers are working at the strike sites, Klymenko said, adding that volunteers are assisting them in clearing debris and providing help to those affected.

In an earlier statement, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that a residential building was targeted in the strike.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the city was hit by guided bombs and that “bold decisions” are needed from Kyiv’s partners to destroy Russian combat aircraft.

While his country has demonstrated its ability to protect people's lives from missile strikes, particularly by "clearing the border areas," Zelenskyy stressed that the country also needs protection against guided bombs.

Russian authorities have not yet commented on the strike.

Airstrikes on Ukraine's second-largest city have intensified following attempts by Russia to breach Ukraine's defenses in the broader Kharkiv region since early May, opening a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that had hitherto been concentrated in the country's east and south.