Deadly strikes on Kharkiv as Biden lets Ukraine use US arms inside Russia

Russian strikes killed three people in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the regional governor said early Friday, hours after the United States authorised Kiev to use American weapons to hit targets inside Russia in defense of the embattled region.

With Russia having retaken the battlefield initiative in recent months, Ukraine had doubled down on calls to permit it to use longer-range U.S. weapons to attack Russian territory — something Washington had resisted over fears it could drag NATO into direct conflict with Moscow.

But that calculus appears to have changed since Russian forces launched a fresh offensive in the Kharkiv region this month.

A Russian missile strike in Kharkiv city killed three people and wounded at least 16 others, regional Governor Oleg Synegubov said in a post on Telegram early Friday morning, noting an emergency medic was among the wounded and an ambulance was damaged.

"The enemy again used a double strike tactic, while medics, rescuers and law enforcement officers were already working on the spot," Synegubov said.

Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said in an interview with local media there could be more people trapped under the rubble of the residential building, adding: "There was not a single military person, not a single military object" present.

Terekhov later put the number of wounded at 23.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, is located just across the border from Russia's Belgorod and regularly comes under attack from Russian missiles.

Russian strikes that hit a hardware superstore in the city last weekend killed 16 people.

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