Russian missile strike injures 73 at Kharkiv hospital
Energy infrastructure across nine regions came under fire as diplomats prepare for peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
By Yasmin Nasser ·
At least 73 people were injured when a Russian missile struck a hospital in Kharkiv on Monday night. Ukrainian officials confirmed the direct hit on the facility, which serves a large portion of the city’s population. The attack occurred simultaneously with strikes on power grids across the country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on social media that the cardiology department suffered damage while patients were being treated. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that more than 1,000 windows were shattered during the bombardment. The incident followed a strike on an aid distribution center the previous day that killed at least 31 people.
Zelenskyy said Russia deployed 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles overnight. He identified electricity generation facilities and substations as primary targets. The affected regions included Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, and Rivne.
Russian Defense Ministry officials stated that their forces targeted electricity sites in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv. The ministry claimed these sites supplied power to Ukrainian armed forces and military factories. Vitalii Bunechko, the governor of Zhytomyr, reported that more than 180,000 residents lost power on Tuesday morning. Scheduled outages were also implemented in Odesa.
Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl. Regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said the strike caused a fire and injured two employees. This counter-strike occurred while diplomatic efforts to end the war intensified.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced that officials from the United States, Russia, and Ukraine will meet in Abu Dhabi next week. The agenda includes post-war security arrangements, tension reduction, and humanitarian work. Witkoff also said US negotiators would meet with representatives from France, Germany, the UK, the EU, and NATO in Brussels this week to discuss security guarantees and rebuilding economics.
These developments align with US midterm elections held on Tuesday. Al Jazeera correspondent Audrey MacAlpine noted the elections are consequential for Ukrainians. She observed that no major military aid packages have been sent since the Trump administration took office, contrasting this with $60 billion in aid during the early years of the Biden administration. Europe has largely covered the funding gap while Zelenskyy continues to prioritize restoring US support.
