MOSCOW/KYIV: Russian attacks, including on an apartment block in Kharkiv city, killed 14 people across Ukraine, authorities said on Monday, ahead of talks in Washington between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US leader Donald Trump.

The early-morning drone attack on Kharkiv reduced part of a five-storey residential building to rubble and sparked fires on at least three floors, governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. The emergency services posted videos showing rescuers trying to break through rubble to free a trapped resident.

“Seven civilians, including two children, have been killed in the attack,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that 23 people were wounded.

The city near the Russian border was also hit hours earlier by a ballistic missile that wounded at least 11 people, Mayor Igor Terekhov said. Klymenko said another three people were killed and 23 wounded in a strike on the Zaporizhzhia region.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling killed four people in settlements still under Ukrainian control — Dobropillia and Kostiantynivka, regional prosecutors said.

Russia also struck the southern Odesa region with drones on Monday, sparking a fire at a fuel facility, regional governor Oleg Kiper said.

Syzran oil refinery

Russia’s Syzran oil refinery suspended production and crude intake after a Ukrainian drone attack last Friday, two industry sources said on Monday. Crude distillation unit 6 was hit by drones and repair work is likely to last until the end of the month, they said. Refinery owner Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment.

The Ukrainian military said that it had struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga river.

Volgograd oil refinery

Russian oil giant Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery has been shut down after being hit by drone attacks, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russian oil facilities last week, targeting major refineries and oil depots mainly in southern and central Russia daily.

The refinery was attacked by dro­nes on August 13 and suspended oil processing at crude distillation unit CDU-5, which has a capacity of 9,110 metric tons per day.

The next drone attack on August 14 damaged two other crude distillation units — CDU-1, with a capacity of 18,590 tons per day, and CDU-6, with a capacity of 14,570 tons per day, the sources added.

Oil processing at the Volgograd refinery has been halted at least until the middle of September, the sources said.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025