Ukrainian Authorities Say Dozens Of Civilians In Kharkiv Died In Russian Attack

Conditions on the road linking Kharkiv with Kyiv, Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/VOA/Yan Bochat)

JAKARTA - Russian artillery bombed a residential district in Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv on Monday, with Moscow facing increased international isolation as talks to resolve the conflict failed to make a breakthrough.

Ukrainian officials say the Kharkiv attacks have killed civilians, including children.

Regional administration chief Oleg Synegubov said Russian artillery had pounded residential districts despite no Ukrainian army positions or strategic infrastructure there. At least 11 people died, he said.

"This happens during the day, when people go out to pharmacies, to buy groceries, or for drinking water. It's a crime," he said.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said four people died after coming out of a bomb shelter to fetch water, and a family with three children burned to death in a car.

Earlier, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said Russian rocket attacks in Kharkiv had killed dozens of people. It is not possible to independently verify the number of victims.

Separately, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations, speaking in New York, said Russian troops pose no threat to civilians.

Images from US satellite company Maxar show the Russian military convoy stretching more than 17 miles (27 km) and moving closer to the capital, Kyiv, which remains under the control of the Ukrainian government.

On Kyiv's streets, signs normally used for traffic warnings bore the message: "Putin lost the war. The whole world is with Ukraine."

Fighting also raged throughout Sunday night around the port city of Mariupol, said the head of the Donetsk regional government, Pavlo Kyrylenko. He did not say whether Russian troops had gained or lost territory.

Russian troops captured two small towns in southeastern Ukraine and the area around the nuclear power plant, according to the Interfax news agency.

To note, Russia faced economic turmoil as Western countries, united in condemnation of its attacks, hit it with sanctions that echoed around the world, targeting various individuals and entities including President Vladimir Putin and his confidants.

The European Union has imposed new sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials, with some of its members urging the bloc to start talks on Ukraine's accession. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a letter formally requesting EU membership, an unequivocal commitment to Western values.

But President Putin has shown no sign of reconsidering his invasion of his neighbor since last Thursday, in a bid to pull him back under Moscow's influence and redraw Europe's security map.