Russia attacks Kharkiv with drones, kills 2 and wounds over 30
Russia launched a wave of Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine on the night of March 29, with Kharkiv suffering some of the worst damage. Explosions rocked the city within the first hour of the attack, leaving at least two people dead and more than 30 others injured, including five children.
A 15-year-old girl is in critical condition, while two other children sustained minor injuries and are being treated as outpatients, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
The drones struck multiple neighborhoods in Kharkiv — including the Kholodnohirskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, and Kyivskyi districts — damaging private homes, a hospital, office buildings, and retail spaces. Emergency responders pulled a man from the rubble of a destroyed home and recovered the body of a woman killed in the blast. Fires broke out at several impact sites, including a blaze covering roughly 100 square meters.
A total of 25 people were injured in the strikes, with some victims suffering from stress-induced trauma, bruises, fractures, and cuts caused by shattered glass and debris, said Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov initially reported that 27 people had been injured.
The attacks continued throughout the night, as waves of Shahed drones moved across Ukrainian territory, prompting repeated air raid alerts. Ukraine’s Air Force reported drone groups entering from the Black Sea and flying through Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, and Kyiv oblasts.
Around 10:30 p.m., a Russian drone struck a military hospital in Kharkiv, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported. The strike damaged the hospital building and nearby residential structures. Several wounded Ukrainian soldiers were at the medical facility at the time.
"The deliberate targeting of a Ukrainian medical facility by Russian forces is yet another addition to the long list of vile and cynical crimes committed since the start of the unprovoked invasion," the General Staff said in a statement. "War crimes have no statute of limitations. The evidence will be handed over to international criminal justice authorities."
Authorities issued multiple air raid alerts throughout the night in regions across Ukraine, including Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kyiv, urging residents to seek shelter as new drone groups were detected en route to major cities like Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, and Myrhorod.
By the early morning hours of March 30, Ukraine’s Air Force continued to monitor incoming drone groups, some of which were flying from the Black Sea toward Odesa Oblast.
At 5:37 a.m., the Air Force lifted the ballistic missile threat warning. The air raid alerts were gradually canceled, though the full extent of the damage across the country is still being assessed.
The military war may be swinging in our favor, but the information war continues.
Just as an army needs soldiers, so does a free society need its journalists to ensure that people have access to honest, trustworthy voices to understand the world around them.
For the past five years, The New Voice of Ukraine has been working tirelessly to push back against Russian narratives and defend democracy. But we cannot do it alone.
Please consider supporting us on Patreon for just $5 a month – your donation does directly to supporting journalists and ensuring that this front of the infowar says solid and defended.
Thank you.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
