Governor: Russian shelling of Kharkiv Oblast’s Vovchansk kills 1, injures 1

Russian troops shelled Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast at around 11 a.m. local time, killing a woman and wounding another, Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor, reported on Feb. 13.

Civilians in Kharkiv Oblast’s settlements are subjected to frequent attacks by Russian forces due to their proximity to the front line and the border with Russia.

According to Syniehubov, a 61-year-old female civilian died from a mine-explosive injury when Russia hit the city of Vovchansk, around 50 kilometers northeast of Kharkiv and less than 10 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border.

Another female civilian aged 50 was wounded in the shelling that hit a market in central Vovchansk, the official said on Telegram.

Russian forces struck an agricultural facility in the village of Kurylivka in Kharkiv Oblast earlier the same day, killing two men and wounding two more people, as reported by Syniehubov.

A Russian drone attack on an oil depot in Kharkiv overnight on Feb. 10 led to a fuel leak that has contaminated over 10,000 square meters of land, Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, said on Feb. 12.

The attack caused a fire that engulfed 15 homes and killed at least seven people, including a family with three children. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov later reported that 57 people had been injured in the attack and declared Feb. 11 as a day of mourning in the city.

Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

Editor’s note: Some soldiers, local police officers and residents of Kupiansk district, Kharkiv Oblast, are not identified by name due to security concerns. All of the reporting and interviewing for this story was completed before the order was announced on Aug. 10 to evacuate 12,000 district reside…

The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov