ISTANBUL

Ukraine said on Monday that at least 21 people were injured due to a Russian airstrike in the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region.

“In the evening and at night, the enemy attacked the Shevchenkivskyi, Saltivskyi, and Kholodnohirskyi districts of the city of Kharkiv, as well as the city of Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region,” Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said in a statement.

Indicating that five children are among those injured, the statement said there was destruction and damage to residential infrastructure in both cities.

In Chuhuiv, there was a fire in a building, which was quickly extinguished by State Emergency Service personnel, the statement further said.

It also said search and rescue efforts are still ongoing in Kharkiv’s Kholodnohirskyi district.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the Russian border, has been regularly targeted by airstrikes, which have increased as Russia attempts to breach Ukraine’s defenses in the broader region since early May.

The Russian offensive in the northeastern region opened a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that was hitherto concentrated in the country’s east and south.

Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attack.​​​​​​​