Russia unleashed a massive overnight assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in what local officials are calling the most powerful attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Barrages killed at least three people in the city and four others in Kherson and Lutsk in western Ukraine, and wounded dozens of others, according to authorities.
The Kharkiv attack began in the early hours of June 7, with residents reporting waves of explosions as Russian forces struck simultaneously with missiles, drones, and guided bombs. Kharkiv’s mayor described the assault as “the most powerful offensive since the onset of the full war,” with both high-rise and private residences, educational institutions, and critical infrastructure targeted.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 215 drones and missiles, with 174 either shot down or neutralized by electronic warfare measures.
Images from the aftermath show charred, partially destroyed buildings and vehicles, as emergency responders worked to rescue the injured and clear debris. One of the city’s civilian industrial sites was hit by 40 drones, a missile, and four bombs, sparking large fires and raising fears that more victims could be trapped beneath the rubble.
Kharkiv, located just a few dozen kilometers from the Russian border, has endured relentless bombardment throughout the three-year conflict.
Separately, a couple was killed as a result of Russian strikes in Kherson.
The escalation comes amid faltering cease-fire negotiations and follows a recent Ukrainian drone operation that damaged Russian military assets, including warplanes, deep inside Russian territory, which embarrassed the Kremlin.
During a June 5 press conference at the White House with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US President Donald Trump compared the war in Ukraine to a fight between children.
"Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy, they hate each other, and they're fighting in a park," Trump told reporters. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy swiftly rejected Trump’s analogy when asked during an ABC interview whether he believed Trump understood the suffering in Ukraine.
"We are not kids with Putin at the playground in the park. He is a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids," he said.
