KYIV/LONDON/MOSCOW: A Russian attack on a village in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine killed 10 people, Kyiv said on Tuesday, vowing to respond.

The strike comes amid a surge in civilian deaths in the four-and-a-half-year war.

Russian forces “carried out a rocket strike on Pechenigy”, a village around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on social media.

“According to preliminary information, 10 people were killed,” he added, with 18 people wounded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media that the strike hit a busy intersection, “a location with a post office and stores, surrounded only by residential buildings”.

Lavrov says Britain risks being seen as party to Ukraine war

A journalist at the site saw bodies of the victims covered with emergency blankets and rescuers working amid destroyed buildings, smouldering rubble and cars reduced by fire to charred shells.

“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike. And it is equally important that our partners also complement our... responses with their own actions to put pressure on Russia and support Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Yana Chelombytko, a local resident and owner of a cafe that was destroyed in the attack, recounted that she had heard a whistle right before the strike and “the windows flew out”.

“There’s nothing left. It’s horrible. I didn’t think that to such an extent they could ... cause such damage. Terrible,” she said. The Kharkiv region — parts of which are occupied by Russian forces — has been hit hard since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

According to the United Nations, more civilians have been killed in the war in recent months than in any period since the start of the invasion.

‘100pc’ support

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Tuesday that Britain would continue to support Ukraine “100pc” against Russia’s invasion after Moscow warned London of consequences over reports British-made drones had been used in strikes on Russian territory. “This is the UK doing what it has long said it would do, which is to support Ukraine 100pc against this illegal war led by Vladimir Putin,” Burnham told reporters.

“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers, it remains the case with me,” he said. “We are not fair weather friends. We will be there in Ukraine’s hour of need, and that won’t change.”

Kremlin warning

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had the right to regard the direct involvement of Britain in strikes on Russian territory as participation in the war in Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.

His comments came after the Times newspaper reported on Saturday that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes against Russia for the first time. Following the report, Russia’s embassy in London warned Britain of unspecified “consequences” for supplying drones to Kyiv.

Moscow has previously accused British specialists of involvement in attacks on Russian territory, saying Britain’s role would be taken “into account” in its response.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2026