Russian drone attack kills two in Ukraine's Kharkiv

By Vitalii Hnidyi

KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -A Russian drone strike on Ukraine's second-largest city killed two people and wounded 35 late on Saturday, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Kyiv's partners to respond to such attacks while seeking peace in the three-year-old war.

The strike on the eastern city of Kharkiv, which damaged a military hospital among other structures, came as Ukraine seeks strong backing from Western allies to pressure Russia into ending its full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said five children were wounded in the attack, which also damaged several dozen residential buildings and a dormitory housing war refugees.

One survivor, who identified himself as Anton, described running to an adjacent room in his apartment when a drone struck and showered him with shrapnel.

"I had already bid farewell to life," said the 22-year-old, whose head and left hand were heavily bandaged.

TRADING BLAME FOR TRUCE VIOLATIONS

Ukraine's air force said on Sunday that Russia had launched 111 drones and one ballistic missile overnight, causing damage in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa and Donetsk regions. It said air defences shot down 65 drones and jammed another 35.

Russia's Defence Ministry said in a daily bulletin its forces had struck 140 districts in Ukraine, including military airfields and ammunition depots. It did not mention the hospital.

Both sides have accused one another in recent days of violating a U.S.-brokered partial ceasefire, and Russia has continued sending regular swarms of drones over Ukraine.

In a statement on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Ukraine expected a response from the U.S. and other allies to the near-daily attacks, adding that Moscow had fired more than 1,000 drones in the past week.

"Russia is dragging out the war, and we are providing our partners with full information on the strikes the Russian army is carrying out and the actions it is preparing for," he said.

Zelenskiy has also warned in recent days that Russia is planning a spring offensive in parts of northeastern Ukraine.

A peace effort led by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration has sought closer ties with Russia, has sparked fears in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be pressured into making far more concessions than Moscow.

During a summit in Paris last week, European leaders vowed to strengthen Kyiv's army, while France and Britain tried to expand support for a planned foreign "reassurance force" in the event of a truce with Russia.

Following the Kharkiv attack, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Russia was flouting a ceasefire that Ukraine was following.

"Ukraine has agreed to the ceasefire proposed by the United States. But Russia continues its war crimes, just yesterday in Kharkiv," he wrote on X.

"Who can still believe that Vladimir Putin wants peace?"

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk and Vitalii Hnidyi; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by David Gregorio, Paul Simao, Giles Elgood and Sharon Singleton)