• Zelensky reported three other guided bombs had struck villages in the Kharkiv region.
• Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians and calls for quick decisions on long-range strikes.
• Zelensky expects the US, France, Germany, and Italy to make the appropriate decisions first.

On Sunday, a Russian-guided bomb struck a multi-story apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, triggering a fire and injuring at least 41 people, according to the region’s governor. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the attack highlighted the urgent need for Ukraine’s Western partners to supply weapons, air defense systems, and permission to target locations deep inside Russia to save lives.

Oleh Syniehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, announced on Telegram that rescue operations were underway. He reported that 12 people were in the hospital, with three in serious condition, and noted that residents might be trapped under the rubble.

Syniehubov posted photos showing heavy damage to the top four of the five-story building, with smoke and fire billowing from blown-out windows. In his nightly video address, Zelensky reported that three other guided bombs had struck villages in the Kharkiv region, where population centers near the Russian border have frequently been targeted by Russian attacks.

Russia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the apartment building but has denied intentionally targeting civilians, despite having killed thousands since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Zelensky called for quick decisions on long-range strikes “to destroy Russian military aviation right where it is based,” describing these actions as “obvious, logical decisions.”

“Every Russian strike of this nature, every instance of Russian terror, like today in Kharkiv…this proves that there must be long-range capability and it must be sufficient.”

He expected the United States, France, Germany, and Italy—whose decisiveness could help save lives—to make the appropriate decisions first. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the West would be directly engaging with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles.

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