Emergency rescue operations have been completed in the Kyiv district of Kharkiv, where the Russian army struck a residential five-story building. According to Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, among the dead are ten people, including two children: a 7-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Additionally, remains of bodies were found at the site of the tragedy, so the final number of victims will be determined after forensic examinations.
This is reported by Finway
Consequences of the Attack and Progress of Rescue Operations
As a result of the massive attack, about 20 buildings, vehicles, and an educational institution were damaged. Rescue services have removed over 2,400 cubic meters of debris and construction waste. According to the State Emergency Service, at least 16 people were injured, including three children. Four residents are still considered missing – search operations with canine units continue, despite the official completion of the main phase of the rescue operation.
“A total of 10 deceased individuals were found under the rubble of the residential five-story building, including two children: a 7-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. Remains of bodies were also discovered, so the final number of victims will be known after the appropriate examinations,” he stated.
During the operations, rescuers faced a constant threat of repeated attacks. On Saturday, the enemy deliberately shelled the rescue teams working at the site of the tragedy. In Dnipro, three vehicles of the State Emergency Service were destroyed, another one in Kharkiv, and in the morning in Poltava region, enemy strikes damaged three more special vehicles. Thanks to the implementation of new operational algorithms, the personnel of the State Emergency Service remained unharmed.
Scale of the Attack and International Reaction
On the night of March 7, the Russian Federation launched a massive air attack on Ukraine. According to the Air Forces, 480 kamikaze drones and 29 missiles were fired at the territory of Ukraine. Ukrainian air defense forces managed to shoot down 453 drones and 19 missiles. The main targets of the strikes were Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernivtsi regions.
The armed forces of the Russian Federation regularly use various weapons – strike UAVs, missiles, guided bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems – to attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across all regions of the country. Ukrainian authorities and international organizations classify these actions as war crimes by the Russian Federation and emphasize their deliberate nature.
Shelling of vital infrastructure, healthcare facilities, energy, water supply, and communication systems is viewed as indicative of genocidal actions. Experts and human rights defenders point out that such crimes aim to destroy the Ukrainian people as an ethnic group. In particular, international law defines genocide as actions aimed at the partial or total destruction of national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups. Countries that are parties to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide are obligated to respond to such actions in times of war and peace.
The Russian leadership denies the targeting of strikes on civilian infrastructure; however, the facts of numerous destructions, the deaths of civilians, and damage to hospitals, schools, kindergartens, and vital infrastructure indicate otherwise.
