An apartment block burns in Kharkiv, Ukraine after being struck by a Russian guided bomb, September 16, 2024

Sunday’s Coverage: “Intense Consultations” on Long-Range Strikes Inside Russia

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 0904 GMT:

Two civilians have been killed and 63 wounded by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

In addition to the one fatality and 43 wounded from the bombing of an apartment block in Kharkiv city (see Original Entry), four other civilians were injured in the region.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, one person was killed and three injured in an attack on the town of Pokrovsk, near the frontline of a Russian offensive. Three people in the town of Mykolaivka and one person in the city of Chasiv Yar suffered injuries.

Other casualties were reported in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kyiv regions.

UPDATE 0656 GMT:

The Ukraine military says air defenses downed 53 of 56 Iran-type drones launched by Russia overnight (see 0610 GMT).

The UAVs were intercepted over the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Preliminary reports indicate no casualties or major damage.

UPDATE 0634 GMT:

The governor of the Belgorod region in western Russia claims a Ukrainian missile wounded eight civilians, one of whom is “in extremely serious condition”.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said a private house burned down and more than 15 cars caught fire. A gas pipeline was damaged.

UPDATE 0610 GMT:

Officials say air defenses downed around 24 Iran-type drones in a “massive” Russian attack on Kyiv early Monday.

Preliminary reports indicated no casualties or significant damage.

The aerial assault was the eighth on the Ukrainian capital this month. An air raid alert began around 2 a.m. and lasted 3 1/2 hours.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least one civilian was killed and 41 wounded when Russia bombed an apartment block in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv on Sunday afternoon.

A guided bomb hit the 10th floor of the building, setting a fire across four stories. The body of a 94-year-old woman was recovered from the 9th floor of the building.

Twelve other buildings were damaged.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the nation on Sunday night:

The only way to counter this terror is through a systemic solution — long-range capabilities to destroy Russian military aviation at its bases. This is an obvious, logical solution. We have already explained to all our partners why Ukraine truly needs sufficient long-range capabilities.

Every Russian strike, every act of terror—like today’s attack on the city of Kharkiv, and the Sumy and Donetsk regions — proves that we need this capability, and we need it in full.

Russia failed to overrun Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine around 30 km (19 miles) from the border, in the opening phase of Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022. That autumn, Ukrainian forces liberated other parts of the region seized by the Russians.

Moscow has continued to carry out deadly strikes on Kharkiv city with missiles, guided bombs, and artillery.

arlier this month, Russian inflicted mass civilian casualties for four days in a row. The assault began with the slaying of seven civilians, including a 14-year-old girl, were slain in bombing of a 12-story residential building and a playground. Another 97, including 22 children, were wounded.

See also Ukraine War, Day 921: Russia’s Mass Killing in Chasiv Yar and Kharkiv