Ukrainian officials have reported an increase in Russian bombardment of the northeastern city of Kharkiv in the past 24 hours as people continue to be evacuated from Russian-occupied territory.
“Within 24 hours, the occupiers fired on the Kyivsky, Industrial, Saltivsky and Nemyshlyansky districts of Kharkiv,” Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv district military administration, told the official Telegram channel.
As a result of the Russian raids at night, the building of one of the educational institutions in the Kyivsky district of Kharkov suffered significant damage, the facilities were destroyed by 40%.
A CNN team in the Kharkiv region heard explosions from a distance of about 23:00 local time (4 a.m. ET), later confirming that they came from the Syniehubov-mentioned educational institution – a university – as it was hit.
According to Syniehubov, three civilians were killed and seven were injured in the last 24 hours.
At the line of contact, Ukrainian forces repulsed attacks in the area around Izium, while Russia continued to maintain a defensive stance around Kharkov, trying to prevent a Ukrainian advance, Syniehubov added.
Fighting ensued as 993 people, including 254 children, were evacuated from the temporarily occupied territories in the Kharkiv region, according to Syniehubov. More than 30 buses to Chukhiv and Kharkiv were used to evacuate.
Background: As of June 7, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported approximately 7.3 million border crossings through Ukraine, with at least 4.8 million refugees in Europe.
In May, Russian officials said nearly 1.1 million people had been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the February 24 invasion. Of that number, about 200,000 were children.
