Nine people, including a 5-month-old baby, were killed in Kharkiv on Thursday amid “dense shelling” on residential areas near the city center, according to Oleh Synyehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.
Among those killed was “a family who was simply walking down the street — a man was holding his five-month-old baby in his hands, whom he died holding. (The) mother of this baby is severely wounded and is now in the hospital,” Synyehubov said.
He also described the artillery used, and said the targeting of residential areas in Ukraine’s second-largest city could only be for the purpose of “terrorizing” local residents.
“The enemy shelled with MLRS SMERCH and URAGAN and with artillery, modification of which is being established now by our military experts. According to the available data. the shelling was conducted from the North of the oblast, where our troops are holding their positions and slowly pushing the enemy away to the borders. This was a solely residential area, so the aim of this shelling could only be terrorizing the local residents,” he said.
The official added it was the Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi districts of Kharkiv that were “densely shelled.” He said in addition to those killed, 19 were injured, among them a 9-year-old child.
“As of now our armed forces holding their positions firmly and there is no question about possible seizure of Kharkiv city,” he said.
