By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Authorities say Russia launched a massive drone attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, hitting a high-rise residential block, triggering fires, and injuring 46 people. The strike, one of several in recent days, has underscored calls for peace in the more than three-year-long war.
Between burning buildings and debris, terrified residents are being brought to an ambulance for urgent medical attention. A woman sitting in an ambulance could be seen visibly upset.
There are scores of victims here in Kharkiv, one of several locations that authorities say have come under Russian attacks in recent days.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov said strikes occurred over the weekend in 12 locations in four central districts of the city.
The city has become a repeated target of Russian air attacks, lying 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the country’s northeastern border.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attacks, saying, “Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes when they are putting their children to bed.”
MORE ATTACKS
Several people were also injured in a Russian joint drone and artillery attack on localities east of Nikopol in the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
In southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, a village resident reportedly died when a fallen drone exploded as he was trying to carry it away from a house.
However, Russian residents suffer too. In Russia, the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar region was struck in what local sources called a “massive attack” from Ukrainian forces.
Three apartment blocks in the port area of Novorossiysk were damaged, reportedly injuring numerous people, including children.
Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry stated Friday that its forces were continuing to create a “security strip” in border areas of northern Ukraine’s Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region, just across the border in western Russia.
The latest attacks have underscored international calls for peace. Late Pope Francis often prayed for peace and repeatedly called for an end to the suffering in a war that is thought to have killed and injured more than 1 million people.
SPECIAL MEETING
Last month, while thousands of mourners gathered outside St. Peter’s Basilica for the funeral of Pope Francis, U.S President Donald J. Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Voldymyr Zelenskyy sat huddled inside beneath an 18th century painting of the baptism of Jesus. “It was a beautiful meeting, I tell you, it was the nicest office I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters.
“It was a beautiful scene.” he added. The 15-minute impromptu meeting in Vatican City was to mend fences following the two leader’s disastrous February 28 meeting at the Oval Office in the White House .
The United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that Washington hasn’t given up hope yet that peace can be established in Ukraine.
He said a deal signed Wednesday that will give Washington access to Ukraine’s vast critical minerals and natural resources was also a message to Moscow.
“This agreement signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term,” Bessent stressed.
Moscow has pledged to introduce a three-day ceasefire from May 7 through May 9.
But as they watch their homes burn, residents here in Kharkiv and other cities are hoping for permanent peace to end Europe’s deadliest conflict in decades.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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