Kyiv [Ukraine], April 15: Russian overnight drone attacks on Ukraine focused on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, continuing a pattern seen over recent weeks, Ukrainian authorities reported on Sunday.
"Kharkiv is a danger zone. The city is coming under attack from Shahed drones," city mayor Ihor Terekhov posted on Telegram shortly before midnight on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian air force reported that all 10 Russian drones over the Kharkiv region had been intercepted. The air attack had targeted critical infrastructure of the city, which lies some 40 kilometres south of the Russian border, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. National public broadcaster Suspilne reported power cuts in some parts of the city.
Before Russian launched its all-out invasion in February 2022, Kharkiv was Ukraine's second-largest city and had a population of around 1.5 million. Russia has intensified its attacks on the city since mid-March, hitting power supplies in particular. Given its proximity to the Russian border, the aerial attacks come with little advance warning, and there are fears that the city could gradually become uninhabitable.
The village of Vesele, which lies in the region close to the Russian border, suffered a hit. A couple were found dead in their bombed-out home.
In Moscow, the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Sunday that 10 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted in the early hours over the Krasnodar region in the south of the country. Details about possible targets were not released.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military leadership warned of a possible false flag operation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the coming days.
The power station, Europe's largest and the third largest in the world, has been occupied by Russian troops since 2022, shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
Kiev's General Staff said in a post on Facebook on Sunday that the feared operation would make Ukraine appear responsible for whatever occurred at the site in southern Ukraine.
"Russia is the only terrorist in the world holding a nuclear power plant hostage and using it to blackmail Ukraine and the whole world," the military officials said. No one but Russia has ever brought the world so close to the brink of a deliberate nuclear catastrophe, the post said.
Russia and Ukraine have each accused the other of trying to provoke an incident at the power plant. There is a significant level of international concern about safety at the site as fighting has almost led to disaster several times since Russian troops occupied the site.
Source: Qatar Tribune