A Russian bomb hits a residential building in Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing a 12-year-old boy

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces struck a residential building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv on Thursday morning, killing a 12-year-old boy and wounding dozens of others.

Regional head Oleh Syniehubov said the boy was fatally injured when the building was hit by a 500-kilogram Russian slide bomb.

“He was rescued from the rubble with serious head injuries and fractures,” Syniehubov wrote on his messaging app channel. “Doctors performed resuscitation measures for more than half an hour. Unfortunately it was not possible to save the child.”

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least 35 people were injured in the attack and others were still trapped under the rubble, including a missing 15-year-old boy.

Russia has increasingly used powerful glide bombs to bomb Ukrainian positions along the 1,000 kilometer line of contact, hitting towns tens of kilometers from the front line. Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million inhabitants, is located about 30 kilometers from the border.

President Volodymyr Zelensky did that has repeatedly urged the United States to allow Ukraine to use US long-range missiles to hit air bases deeper in Russia used by aircraft carrying glide bombs. Washington has so far allowed only a few attacks close to the border.

Zelensky reiterated his demand on Thursday and published a video showing the destroyed building, with at least three floors destroyed and the rest seriously damaged.

“Partners see what happens every day,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “And under these circumstances, each of their delayed decisions means at least dozens, if not hundreds, of such Russian bombs against Ukraine. Their decisions are the lives of our people. That is why we must work together to stop Russia and do so with all possible force.”

On Thursday morning, Russia also fired ten rockets of different types at the bridge at the mouth of the Dniester, which connects the northern and southern parts of the country. Odessa regionthe Ukrainian Air Force said, adding that only two of them were intercepted. The air force will not say whether the bridge was hit.

Russian forces also fired 43 exploding drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions; 17 were shot down, 23 stuck and three flew back to Russian-controlled areas, the air force said.

The head of Kyiv’s city administration, Serhii Popko, said debris from some of the drones intercepted over the capital fell in the Podil district just north of the center, causing minor damage. According to Popko, there was only one day in October when Kiev residents did not hear air raid sirens. So far in October, Kiev has heard an average of two air raid sirens per day, repelling twenty actual air raids on the city.

Ukraine hit back with drone strikes on Thursday.

Authorities in the Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk on the Sea of ​​Azov reported a drone attack on the port early Thursday, saying three people were injured.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 21 Ukrainian drones over several regions and the Black Sea on Thursday.