Russia pummelled Ukraine again overnight as missiles, drones and bombs rained down on the country’s second largest city Kharkiv.
At least two people were killed and dozens were wounded in the attacks which US President Donald Trump has since blamed on Ukraine.
More than 40 explosions were heard as Kremlin forces unleashed 48 kamikaze drones plus six aerial bombs and missiles on Kharkiv just before dawn today.
A 26-year-old woman who was trapped under a slab of concrete was eventually freed three hours after the strike, and was seen being stretchered to an ambulance.
Eighteen multi-storey buildings and 13 private houses were also hit and damaged.
Speaking on board Air Force One, Trump said Ukraine had provoked Vladimir Putin with Operation Spiderweb which disabled dozens of his nuclear strike aircraft.
‘They gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them last night,’ Trump said.
‘That’s what I didn’t like. When I saw it, I said, “Here we go, now it’s going to be a strike”.’
Kharkiv’s mayor has described last night’s assault as the ‘most powerful attack’ on the city since the start of the war.
Rescuers and a paramedic speak with an injured man after he was released from debris of a building hit by a Russian drone strike
Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike
Fire is seen among the smoke clouds billowing from a Russian attack on Kharkiv
‘Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war,’ Igor Terekhov posted on Telegram.
‘As of now, at least 40 explosions have been heard in the city over the past hour and a half,’ he wrote at 4.40am local time.
Two people were killed and 17 wounded, the mayor said. A woman was also pulled alive from the rubble of a high-rise building.
Kharkiv regional Governor Oleg Synegubov said the wounded included two children.
‘Medical personnel are providing the necessary assistance,’ he wrote.
The northeastern city was already reeling from an attack on Thursday that wounded at least 18 people, including four children.
In the western city of Lutsk, near the Polish border, rescuers on Saturday discovered a second fatality from the previous day’s strikes, describing the victim as a woman in her 20s.
The aerial bombardments come just days after Ukraine launched a brazen attack well beyond the frontlines, damaging nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases.
This in turn prompted vows of revenge from Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Rescuers carry a wounded person out of the ruins of a civilian plant following Russian powerful attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Two people were killed and 17 wounded, the mayor said. A woman was also pulled alive from the rubble of a high-rise building
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a civilian plant following powerful attacks to Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on June 7
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a multi-storey residential building following powerful attacks to Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal during peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
But Russia, which now controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, has repeatedly rejected such offers.
In other overnight strikes, Russia hit Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk, along with Odesa, Poltava, and Vinnytsia regions.
Footage showed brutal multiple strikes on Ternopil, the second night in succession it was targeted.
Russia was forced to close two major airports in Moscow – Domodedovo and Zhukovsky – amid drone threats.
The city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said: ‘The Defence Ministry’s air defence forces shot down four drones that attacked Moscow.
‘Emergency services are working at the site of the debris fall.’
Russian forces alleged a Ukrainian drone had been shot down near the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Kurchatov, Kursk region.
Ukrainian drones also targeted Ryazan and western city Smolensk, according to reports.
