Kharkiv residents say Russian strikes are becoming 'less predictable' as attacks kill 7, injure 121 across Ukraine

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least seven civilians and injured at least 121 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on July 8, with the city of Kharkiv being hit particularly hard.

Russian forces struck the Nemyshlianskyi district of the city, hitting a five-story residential building. At least two people were killed, and 34 others were injured, including four children, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Kharkiv resident Polina Sidletska, 25, told the Kyiv Independent that she heard explosions in the morning and it "jolted me awake," adding that Russia appears to be changing its strike tactics.

"The attacks have become much less predictable than they were last (summer). Now they can happen during the day, in the morning, or several times a day. Before, I felt almost everything happened during curfew hours," Sidletska said.

Russia used a Banderol missile in the attack on the residential building, Spartak Borysenko, head of the department for combating crimes committed in the context of armed conflict at the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, said in a comment to Suspilne Kharkiv.

"(The Banderol missile) can reach speeds of up to 800 kilometers per hour. It contains around 300–400 kilograms of explosive material. It has a guidance system and numerous control surfaces, and it can change its direction and altitude while in flight," Borysenko said.

Kharkiv residents described horrific scenes in posts on social media.

"I saw with my own eyes how life simply drained from a person," wrote Threads user, Petrovska Polina, who was on her way to work in the Nemyshlianskyi district when the attack happened.

"I'm sure I'll remember that labored breathing for a long time. Of course, I asked if they'd called an ambulance for him — they had. And I really hope they managed to save him."

Myroslava Chaiun, a reporter for the Kyiv Independent, said that while she was visiting Kharkiv in early July, she noticed that, unlike in Kyiv, where attacks mainly take place at night, in Kharkiv, air raid alerts continued throughout the day, with "breaks of perhaps 5–10 minutes at most."

"FPV drones, as well as kamikaze drones, are also reaching Kharkiv, which, it seems to me, are harder to track and warn residents about. We were on one of the city's central streets and, within 10 minutes, heard the sound of an FPV drone flying overhead at least three times — it was unnerving," Chaiun said.

She added that in Kyiv, residents have more time to hide after the warnings about missiles and drones come, while in Kharkiv, there is almost no such warning, as the city is much closer to the border with Russia.

Elsewhere in Kharkiv Oblast, two people were killed, and 35 were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

The attacks on Kharkiv Oblast were part of a broader wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine over the past day.

Russian troops launched five ballistic missiles, two Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, and 169 drones against Ukraine overnight on July 8, Ukraine's Air Force reported.

Air defenses shot down 139 drones, while five ballistic missiles struck four locations, and 20 drones hit targets at 11 locations. Debris from intercepted targets fell at seven sites, and the two Kh-31P missiles failed to reach their targets.

In southern Kherson Oblast, 18 people were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said at 7:38 a.m. local time.

Prokudin later added that at around 7 a.m., a Russian drone attacked a bus in the city of Kherson, killing a 72-year-old woman and injuring six people, who suffered blast injuries and were taken to the hospital.

"It was a deliberate attack on civilian transport. The drone operator could not have failed to see that there were civilians on the bus. Yet he deliberately directed the drone straight into the passenger compartment," Prokudin said.

In a separate attack on a civilian car in Kherson, a 53-year-old man was killed.

In Kyiv, Russian missile and drone attacks overnight and during the daytime killed a woman and injured six people, according to local authorities.

In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and its surrounding oblast, 10 people were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. He added that Russian forces carried out 1,016 strikes on 62 settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast over the day.

In eastern Donetsk Oblast, six people were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.

In northeastern Sumy Oblast, four people, including a 21-year-old woman, were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, the regional military administration said.

In northern Chernihiv Oblast, Russian attacks injured two civilians, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said. An 18-year-old woman sustained a blast injury in a daytime strike on the town of Mena, while a 46-year-old man was injured during a six-hour drone attack on the town of Snovsk.

Chaus also added that a Russian drone struck a petrol station in Semenivka.