Russia takes advantage of Ukraine’s lack of air defences to intensify strikes on Kharkiv in the north-east, where at least four more people were killed on Thursday, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Russian terrorists are exploiting the fact that Ukraine does not have adequate air defence," Mr. Zelenskyy stated on social media platform X. He furiously added, "This weakness is not ours, but the world’s, which doesn’t dare treat the terrorists as they deserve."
There were at least four fatalities due to the recent Russian strikes on Kharkiv, with an additional victim reported in a village of the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia has been conducting a land assault on the Kharkiv region since 10 May, occupying several villages and making its largest territorial gains since the end of 2022.
Ukraine finds itself weakened by a shortage of troops and significant delays in the delivery of Western military aid.