Five-month-old baby and dad amongst nine killed in Russian shelling of Kharkiv

270522 An injured man as a result of shelling is carried on a stretcher in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, AP
A shelled section of the Barabashovo market in Kharkiv on Monday. Credit: AP

A five-month-old baby and their father are amongst nine people killed by Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

He added that the child's mother and a nine-year-old girl were amongst 19 people who were injured in the attack on Thursday.

The woman's injuries were said to be serious.

The shelling comes just weeks after Russian forces were pushed back from the city.

President Volodymyr Zelensky Credit: AP

Mr Zelenskyy said that missile strikes also hit the Donbas, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Russian forces were trying to reinforce their positions in the south of the country.

"The current offensive of the occupiers in the Donbas could make the region uninhabited," he added.

In its daily update on the war in Ukraine, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) also highlighted Moscow's focus on the south of the country.

"Russian ground forces continue their attempt to surround Severodonetsk and Lyschansk, recently capturing several villages north-west of Popasna," the MoD said.

"Russia is pressuring the Severodonetsk pocket although Ukraine retains control of multiple defended sectors, denying Russia full control of the Donbas.

"Russia’s Southern Grouping of Forces (SGF) likely remains tasked with occupying southern Ukrainian territory."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Russian forces are making "palpable progress" in the Donbas region after failing to encircle Kyiv.

More offensive weapons, including long-range multiple-launch rocket systems, are needed as Russian forces slowly "chew through ground" in eastern Ukraine, Mr Johnson told Bloomberg.

“I think it’s very, very important that we do not get lulled because of the incredible heroism of the Ukrainians in pushing the Russians back from the gates of Kyiv," Mr Johnson said.

He continued: “I’m afraid that Putin at great cost to himself and Russian military is continuing to chew through ground in Donbas, he’s continuing to make gradual, slow but I’m afraid palpable progress.

“And therefore it is absolutely vital that we continue to support the Ukrainians militarily.”

The Ukrainian leader also criticised members of the European Union who were resisting imposing even tougher sanctions on Russia including a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas, the major source of revenue for Moscow.

"Putting pressure on Russia is literally a matter of saving lives," he said.

"And every day of delay, weakness, various debates, or proposals to 'pacify' the aggressor at the expense of the victim means more killed Ukrainians."


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Meanwhile in the surrounded city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian forces scrambled to evacuate civilians.

On Thursday, an ITV News team filmed as some of the final evacuations took place.


As Russia's scorched earth policy continues, Ukrainian forces scramble to evacuate civilians who are surrounded on three sides in Lyman.

ITV News' Dan Rivers and Jonathan Wald are on the ground there, along with the rest of the team: Krystyna Fedosyeyeva, Alvis Luksa and Kenny Fillingham

This video contains distressing images

The last Ukrainian soldiers pulled out of the strategic city on Thursday, blowing up the only bridge into town as they went.

Lyman has now fallen to pro-Russian separatists.