Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded two others in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy after Moscow threatened escalation for Ukraine’s biggest assault so far.
Another five, including three children, needed medical assistance in Kharkiv, which was attacked with guided aerial bombs, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov previously warned of “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” in response to Ukraine’s attack on a Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week.
The Kharkiv attack comes after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that “Moscow will burn” if strikes continue.
Ukraine earlier launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in retaliation for damage done to a historic monastery in Kyiv this week. Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital’s oil refinery for the second time this week, in one of the biggest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far.
Zelensky told an EU summit on Thursday that the future of Europe was being shaped by the defence of Ukraine and the best security guarantee for the bloc’s future would be to grant Kyiv fast-track membership.
