KHARKIV: Moscow and Kyiv said civilians had been killed in the latest exchange of air strikes on Wednesday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to restore security after a sharp increase in attacks on Russia’s border regions.

The Russian regions of Belgorod and Kursk just across the border from Ukraine have come under intense attack over the past 10 days. Kyiv has launched a barrage of drone and missile strikes and pro-Ukrainian paramilitaries have attempted armed raids into Russian territory.

Fresh attacks on Belgorod killed three civilians on Wednesday, the Russian governor said.

In Ukraine, a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least five, the regional prosecutor’s office said.

Another seven were wounded, Oleg Synegubov, the governor of Kharkhiv, said earlier, and a senior police official warned the toll could rise.

“The city was hit by an X-59 missile. Rescue and firefighting operations are underway. There are still people under the rubble,” the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office said.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies close to the Russian border, and has seen increased attacks in recent months as Moscow’s invasion moves into its third year.

Sergiy Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of Kharkiv’s police, said of the deadly strikes on Kharkiv that an eight-storey building and a factory has been hit at around 1pm local time. “Unfortunately, the number of casualties may increase,” he added.

Ukraine’s emergency services published images of at least five fire engines working at the scene, with a fire burning on the top floor of the building. Directly across the border in Russia’s Belgorod region, the governor said multiple attacks on Wednesday had killed three people.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2024