Russian, Ukraine update: At least eight people were killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv.

Russian missile strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, have killed eight people and injured at least 10 others, regional officials said.

Ukraine’s national police stated the attack was launched by drones, while regional officials alleged Russian soldiers employed missiles and bombs. The police and municipal authorities tweeted photographs of fires that had broken out on city streets and adjacent to structures

On Saturday, the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, stated that six people were killed in midnight missile assaults on the city of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov verified that figure on the Telegram messaging service, adding that 10 others were hurt. Later, the death toll rose to seven.

“The attack hit residential areas; at least nine high-rise buildings, three dormitories, a number of administrative buildings, a shop, a petrol station, a service station, and cars were damaged,” Terekhov said.

Photos supplied by police on Telegram showed many fires in civilian areas, including near a residential high-rise. The strike took place immediately after midnight, according to local news reports. Later, on Saturday afternoon, a further attack in Kharkiv killed one more person.

“There is information about one death as a result of a strike in a residential area of the city. There are also injuries,” Terekhov said on Telegram.

“Overnight, Russia launched another attack against Kharkiv,” US Ambassador Bridget A. Brink said on social media platform X following the initial attack. “There is not a second to lose to support Ukraine’s fight to defend its people from such horrific and unprovoked attacks.”

Ukraine’s military stated on Facebook that its air defences destroyed 28 of 32 drones and three of six missiles launched by Russia.

Air raid alarms remained in force for Kharkiv and most of the country, including the capital, Kyiv, for several hours following the nocturnal bombings.

Kharkiv, the capital of the province of the same name, stands approximately 30km (19 miles) from the border with Russia and has been under repeated assault since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.

The attacks have risen in the past few weeks. On Wednesday, a drone attack on the city killed four people and extensively damaged housing structures.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told the news source Politico in an interview published on Thursday that he saw Kharkiv as the most likely target for any new Russian onslaught in May or June.

Ukrainian officials have encouraged the country’s partners to supply more anti-aircraft defence systems, in particular sophisticated US-made Patriot systems.

US military help to Ukraine has been drying up, with a $60 billion budget package currently stuck in Congress amid furious opposition from Republicans.