Attacks described as ‘intense’ with ‘at least 40 explosions’ in Kharkiv, just 30 km from the Russian border

At least five people were killed in a series of Russian attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Saturday. This comes after Moscow carried out a large-scale aerial assault on Ukraine the previous night, CNN reported.

The attacks on Kharkiv, which is located just 30 kilometers from the Russian border, were intense, with Mayor Igor Terekhov reporting "at least 40 explosions" in the early hours of Saturday.

The recent wave of Russian attacks is believed to be retaliation for a drone operation by Ukraine that significantly damaged Russia's cruise missile carriers, as per CNN.

"Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," Terekhov said. "The enemy is striking simultaneously with missiles, (drones) and guided aerial bombs. This is outright terror against peaceful Kharkiv." According to CNN, video released by emergency services showed a large fire burning in a multi-story apartment block in the Osnovyanskyi district in the city's southwest, where Terekhov said two people had died. One person was also killed in a strike that hit a house in the Kyivskyi district to the north, he said.

According to Ukrainian officials, Russia resumed its assault on Saturday evening. It launched a fresh round of strikes using glide bombs, killing another two people and injuring at least 40 others.

Those killed were a woman and a 62-year-old man, officials said. Two other victims of the attack are in intensive care in "extremely serious condition," according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region military administration. The target of the second attack was a children's playground with a miniature railway, Terekhov said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Saturday evening attack "pure terrorism" in a post on Telegram. "Air bombs on civilians in the city - even a children's railway nearby. This makes no military sense. Pure terrorism," he said in the post. 

US believes Russia’s response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike

The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, U.S. officials told Reuters.The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second U.S. official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia's expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters. The first official said Moscow's attack would be "asymmetrical," meaning that its approach and targeting would not mirror Ukraine's strike last weekend against Russian warplanes.