Local officials report that a Russian-guided bomb hit a high-rise building in Kharkiv (Ukraine’s second largest city), killing a child. At least 29 other people were injured. Oleg Synegoubov, the governor of Kharkiv Region, said that an 11-year old boy was pulled out of the rubble and suffered serious head injuries and fractures. Medical personnel were unable save him. He was trapped with two other people.
Synegoubov wrote on Telegram that the strike had caused a fire, destroyed the majority of an entrance and created a huge hole in a building. Reuters Television footage shows rescue teams sifting through piles and twisted metal in order to get the injured into ambulances.
Zelensky stated that the attack highlighted the need for more military assistance from Ukraine’s Western Allies.
“Our partners are able to see what’s happening every day,” wrote he on Telegram. “Under these conditions, each decision that is delayed could mean, at minimum, dozens of Ukrainian lives and hundreds Russian bombs being used against Ukraine.”
The Russian Advance
The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that Russian forces have taken over the settlement of Kruhliakivka in Kharkiv, near the important town of Kupiansk. Ukraine’s military denies the claim but says nine villages in the area are engulfed by fighting, with 15 Russian attacks repulsed and nine clashes ongoing.
In early February, Ukrainian intelligence reported the Russian forces were pushed out of the village.
Six people, including two officers of the police, were injured in Kupiansk after it was subjected first to air attacks and then shelling. One person was killed when Russian forces shelled Kucherivka village, located a few kilometers to the east.
Moscow has been making steady gains in the last few months. They are gaining ground against Ukrainian forces that are overstretched, under-equipped and outnumbered. The Russian Defense Ministry, using the Russian spelling of the village, said that Russian army units had “liberated” the settlement of Izmailovka. Izmailivka’s population was just under 200 before the conflict.
Nine people were injured and several apartments were set on fire as Russia launched its 19th attack against Kyiv this month. A kindergarten was also damaged. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 62 drones over night, but its air defences destroyed 33, leaving 25 unaccounted for.
In a separate attack on central Ukraine, at least 20 people were injured in a missile strike.
According to Vitalii Klitschko the mayor of Kyiv, the drone crashed into a 25 story apartment block in the west of the city on Friday night, killing a girl aged 15 and injuring 5 others.
The Ukrainian emergency service reported that 100 people were evacuated following the strike which damaged several apartments in the building’s upper levels.
Concern grows over North Korean soldiers in Russia
The US, South Korean, and Japanese national security advisors expressed “grave concerns” on Friday regarding the deployment of North Korean soldiers in Russia to be used against Ukraine.
The trio has called on Russia to stop arms and missile transfers with North Korea.
John Kirby, White House National Security spokesman, said that the transfers violate UN Security Council Resolutions.
Vladimir Putin did not deny on Thursday that North Korean troops were in Russia, but he said that it was Moscow’s responsibility to implement a Pyongyang-Putin treaty that included a clause of mutual defense.
North Korea has not acknowledged the deployment of troops in Russia. However, it said that any such move would comply with international law. It also added that “Pyongyang maintains close contact with Moscow on mutual security and the development of the situation.”
Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to UN, warned Kim Jong Un that his troops would “return in bodies bags” if their troops entered Ukraine.
Kim Yong-hyun, South Korea’s Minister of Defense, said that there is a high chance that North Korea would seek tactical nuclear weapons from Russia and intercontinental missile technology in exchange for its deployment of troops to Ukraine.
A presidential official said that South Korea is considering sending military monitors to Ukraine in order to observe and analyze any North Korean troop deployment.
Compiled by Ana Dumbadze
Read More @ georgiatoday.ge