Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces strike Kharkiv with ‘most powerful’ attack since start of war

A 14-year-old girl and a baby boy were among the two children injured in strikes that damaged 18 apartment buildings, Ukrainian officials have said.

Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the latest attack from Russia was “the most powerful attack” on the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to the Associated Press.

Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov, according to AP, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.

He said among the injured were two children, a baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added.

Meanwhile, in Dnipropetrovsk, two women aged 45 and 88 were injured, according to local official Serhii Lysak.

The Independent’s world affairs editor, Sam Kiely, analyses Russia’s latest offensive on Ukraine.

He writes, as the summer fighting season gets underway in the fourth year of Putin’s full scale invasion of its neighbour, Russia has clearly shifted its main effort to forever destabilising Ukraine.

Kyiv, meanwhile, has demonstrated that it is no longer on the back foot, and that it is far from defeated. Indeed two years after its failed summer counter offensive, Kyiv is growing in strength and confidence.

According to Kiely, Ukraine doesn’t have the capacity to drive Russia out of its lands this year. But it is hanging on and by next year may find it has the upper hand as European aid begins to come through to replace the military support that the US has withdrawn.

Data on Russian federal budget expenditures indicate that the number of Russian recruits fell from 93,000 in the second quarter of 2024 to about 50,000 in the third quarter of last year.

This is despite Putin’s increase in federal enlistment bonuses.

Russian recruitment rates may continue declining in 2025 based on the federal subject recruitment rates, according to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War.

For instance, recruitment rates in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic fell by a factor of 1.5 in May 2025 compared to December 2024, despite the region offering one of the highest one-time enlistment bonuses in the country.

Enlistment rate of Russian soldiers has already declined across several federal areas since late 2024 and early 2025, ISW noted.

Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three and injuring 21.

The latest offensive, including aerial glide bombs that have become part of Russia’s onslaught during the three-year war, reports the Associated Press.

Andrii Sybiha, minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said in a post on social media platform X: “ Kharkiv had a particularly terrible night. 53 drones, four guided aerial bombs, and one missile. At least three people were killed, with 21 injured. There were strikes throughout Ukraine—in the Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil, Odesa, and other regions. People were injured and killed, and the energy infrastructure was also damaged.”

The minister added: “To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required.”

An attack on Kharkiv at night with drones, missiles and guided bombs killed at least three people and injured 22, the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on Saturday.

"Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war," he said on Telegram.

The Russian strikes reportedly targeted multi-storey and private residential buildings in the city as well as educational and energy infrastructure facilities.

One of the city's civilian industrial facilities was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding that there could be more people trapped under the rubble.

A map revealed by a senior Ukrainian official about the Russian military suggests Moscow intends to seize the whole of Ukraine on the east bank of the Dnipro River by the end of next year.

This includes capturing the rest of unoccupied parts of Ukraine, including the Zaporizhia Oblast, all of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava oblasts as well as half of Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.

Moscow's goal would require Russia to advance over 300 km (about 190 miles) from the furthest point of the international border to Kyiv City within the next 18 months, according to the ISW.

Russia will have to seize nine unoccupied oblast capitals, including Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Poltava cities, with a pre-war population of over 5.6 million people.

Russia's central bank announced that it had lowered its key interest rate from an over two-decade high of 21 per cent to 20 per cent.

This is the first time Moscow has lowered interest rates since September 2022.

The step was likely taken due to increased pressure from Kremlin to project economic stability.

There is already rising tension between Kremlin officials and the Central Bank over Russia's compounding economic constraints.

While the Kremlin claims Russia's inflation rate hovered around nine to 10 percent, the actual figure could be closer to 20 percent as of March 2025, experts said.

The latest move to reduce interest rate further could drive further economic instability and contribute to elevated levels of inflation, they said.

Ukraine is reportedly innovating and expanding its air defence by testing new drones that intercept other strike drones.

Ukrainian forces have downed over 160 drones over Kyiv since February 2024 using these interceptor drones, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia is attempting to overwhelm Ukraine's air defence to inflict maximum damage and combat Kyiv's drone and counter-drone capabilities.

Russia launched 452 projectiles yesterday, including 407 drones from Kursk and Oryol cities, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The strikes hit 19 locations, including civilian and energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Chernihiv, and Kremenchuk cities.

In Kyiv, Volyn, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy oblasts were hit, according to the air force.

The strikes killed at least three civilians in Kyiv alone, with the overall toll across all Ukrainian cities rising to 7.

This is notably the second-largest overnight strike in Ukraine by Russian forces using drones and missiles since the start of the war.

It comes after Moscow's overnight attack between 31 May and 1 June when it launched 479 total drones and missiles towards Ukraine.