At least 11 people killed as Russian attacks intensify in northeastern Ukraine

Destroyed resort compound is seen from above after a Russian rocket attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, May 19, 2024.

The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office said six people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian strike on the outskirts of the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that five more people were killed and nine wounded in an attack on the region's Kupiansk district, southeast of the regional capital.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said that its forces in the area were ''continuing to advance into the depths of the enemy's defence.'' Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia had stepped up its attacks around Kharkiv and that the situation was ''dynamic''.

Ukraine's overstretched forces are trying to slow Russia on the new front by using bomb-laden drones to destroy military vehicles.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow's offensive in the Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone, but that there are no plans to capture the city.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to launch drone attacks on each other.

Ukrainian air force officials said Sunday morning that air defences shot down all 37 Russian drones launched against the country overnight.

In Russia, Russian air defences destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region overnight, the Russian defence ministry said.

Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no fire or damage. News outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.

Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, following Friday morning's Ukrainian drone strike that cut power in the city of Sevastopol.

A further three drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. According to regional Governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, a church roof was set on fire by falling drone debris, but there were no casualties.

The Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that one person died and 16 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus on Sunday morning.