Russian drone attack kills 4 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv as peace remains elusive 

A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv has killed at least four people and wounded six, officials have said, just hours after Washington accused Moscow of “dangerous and inexplicable escalation” of the war and as a peace deal remains distant.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Tuesday that the death toll from the attack on the outskirts of the frequently targeted city, just 30km (19 miles) from the border, had risen to four.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov also said a Russian long-range drone struck a medical facility for children, causing a fire.

Meanwhile, ‍grid operator Ukrenergo said emergency power cuts ⁠were being implemented ​in Kyiv after infrastructure was damaged ‍in an ⁠overnight Russian attack, amid the Kremlin’s concerted targeting of Ukraine’s energy networks.

In its post on Telegram, the company ​gave ‌no details on the scale of the ‌damage or ‌how long ⁠the outages would last.

The head ​of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said the Ukrainian ‍capital had come under a short but intense attack from Russian missiles, while Telegram channels monitoring Ukraine said about 20 ballistic missiles had been launched within about an hour overnight.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defence units had been deployed to repel the attack, and witnesses told the Reuters news agency they heard explosions in the city, but there was no information ‍on casualties.

The strikes came shortly after the United States accused Russia of escalating the war as US President Donald Trump was pushing hard to bring an end to the conflict.

In comments at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday, Tammy Bruce, the US’s deputy ambassador to the UN, said Russia’s “inexplicable escalation” of the conflict risked “expanding and intensifying the war”.

“At a moment of tremendous potential, due only to President Trump’s unparalleled commitment to peace around the world, both sides should be seeking ways to de-escalate,” Bruce said.

The US expressed particular alarm about Russia’s use of a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile last week, which resulted in a “staggering number of casualties” in Ukraine.

Ukraine called for the UNSC meeting after Russia bombarded the country last Thursday with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, including the Oreshnik missile.

That attack was only the second time Russia had launched the powerful Oreshnik missile in a combat scenario, and its use was widely interpreted as a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies.

The attack came just days after Ukraine and its Western allies announced progress in an agreement to defend the country from further Russian attacks if a ceasefire is agreed, including a proposal for France and the United Kingdom to deploy troops to Ukraine. Russia rejected the plans, saying any troops sent to Ukraine by Western governments would be “legitimate combat targets”.

On Monday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the target struck by the Oreshnik missile last week was a Ukrainian aircraft repair plant in Lviv. It described the plant, near the Polish border, as having been disabled in the attack.

Russia said the missile was fired in response to a recent attempted drone attack by Ukraine on one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences, a claim that Kyiv has denied and the US has dismissed as inaccurate.