Ukraine war latest: Russian attack kills 11 in Kharkiv, including 2 children
Key developments on March 7-8
- Russian attack kills 11 in Kharkiv, including 2 children
- Ukraine halts Russian offensive toward Zaporizhzhia, killing, injuring 300 Russian troops, HUR claims
- Ukraine hits Russian Shahed-type drone storage in Donetsk with SCALP, ATACMS missiles, military says
- US supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to Middle East partners, WSJ reports
- Russian drone strikes Ukrainian train with 200 passengers on board
Russian troops struck a five-story building in the city of Kharkiv with a ballistic missile overnight on March 7, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring at least 15, local authorities reported.
Russia launched 480 drones, including Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles, and 29 missiles, including hypersonic Zircon anti-ship missile and Iskander-M ballistic missiles, targeting energy infrastructure across Ukraine, the Air Force reported. Ukrainian forces downed 453 drones and 19 missiles, the statement read.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that the Russian attack on the city killed a teacher and her nine-year-old son, as well as a 13-year-old girl and her mother.
Among the injured in Kharkiv are two boys, aged six and 11, and a 17-year-old girl, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
The number of victims could grow as rescue operations are still underway. Eleven people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Two people were injured in the town of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast after a Russian drone attacked a home at around 1:20 a.m., according to the State Emergency Service.
"There must be a response from partners to these savage strikes against life," President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential and critical infrastructure, and therefore support must continue."
Russia also launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight, hitting a critical infrastructure facility, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The recent attack left 1,905 more homes without heating, he added.
Three people were injured in Ukraine's capital, with missile fragments found in three districts of the city, the mayor said.
Russia regularly strikes Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings and energy infrastructure, as it continues to wage its full-scale war.
A Russian mass attack against Ukraine on Feb. 26 injured at least 28 people, according to local authorities.
In the early hours of Feb. 22, one man was killed after Russia launched a large-scale combined missile and drone attack on Ukraine.
The attack caused a building to collapse in the town of Fastiv, 60 kilometers southwest of Kyiv, killing a 49-year-old man and injuring seven others, according to Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk.
Ukraine halts Russian offensive toward Zaporizhzhia, killing, injuring 300 Russian troops, HUR claims
The units of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) and the Armed Forces have stopped Russia's advance toward the city of Zaporizhzhia as part of a three-month defensive operation in the country's south, HUR claimed on March 7.
The statement was made as Russian advances on most sections of the front line slowed during the winter, mirroring patterns observed on the battlefield the previous year. Meanwhile, Ukrainian units along the southern front in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts have been pushing forward.
HUR did not reveal the exact area where the Russian offensive was halted.
The special forces unit of Ukraine's military intelligence, Tymura, killed or wounded over 300 Russian soldiers and captured 39 more, HUR said.
"The goal of the special forces is to disrupt the Russians' offensive plans and prevent their advance toward the regional capital," the agency said.
"The actions of the special forces helped stabilize the defense at positions favorable to the Ukrainian defenders and secure Zaporizhzhia."
Zaporizhzhia, home to approximately 710,000 residents before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, is frequently targeted by Russian forces.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast is also home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which has been under Russian occupation since 2022 and remains one of the thorny issues in ongoing peace talks between Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia.
Over February, dozens of videos emerged on social media of Ukrainian forces conducting offensive operations in the part of the front line where Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts meet.
In late February, Zelensky claimed that Ukrainian forces had liberated 300 square kilometers of territory in a "counteroffensive" operation in the south.
Operating in a wide contested "grey zone" with infiltrations on both sides, the Ukrainian advances, as seen in open-source reports, appear more like extended clearing operations rather than efforts to capture or breach Russian-held defensive lines.
Ukraine hits Russian Shahed-type drone storage in Donetsk with SCALP, ATACMS missiles, military says
Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian site used for the storage, preparation, and launch of Shahed-type drones with Western long-range missiles near the airport in occupied Donetsk, the General Staff reported on March 7.
Ukraine's Ground Forces and Air Force launched strikes on the Russian facility near Donetsk Airport using French-British SCALP (Storm Shadow) missiles and U.S. ATACMS missiles, according to the statement.
Russian forces launch Shahed-type drones at Ukrainian cities on a near-daily basis, often targeting energy infrastructure and residential buildings. The drones are also used for attacks on the front line.
A video shared by the Ukrainian military purportedly shows a large fire and secondary explosions following the attack.
The Donetsk Airport ceased operations in May 2014 following the beginning of the Russian occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. It was one of the last holdouts for Ukrainian soldiers in the city.
Ukrainian forces regularly strike military facilities in Russian-occupied areas that supply weapons, fuel, and equipment to Russian troops.
In separate attacks, Ukrainian forces claim to have struck several military targets and Russian troops in Sumy Oblast, as well as in the occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts on March 6 and 7.
"The systematic targeting of drone control points, artillery positions, and enemy manpower weakens its ability to manage units, conduct fire, and prepare for offensive actions," the military said.
The Kyiv Independent couldn't verify these reports.
US supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to Middle East partners, WSJ reports
The U.S. is supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to partners in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 7, highlighting growing international demand for Kyiv’s battlefield-proven technology capable of countering Iranian drone attacks.
The systems — tested extensively in Ukraine — are designed to intercept incoming drones and other aerial threats, drawing on Kyiv’s experience defending against Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia has used extensively against Ukraine since 2022.
In that time, tens of thousands of such drones have been launched at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
The system being deployed, known as Merops, is a compact counter-drone platform developed by the U.S. company Project Eagle.
This platform launches small interceptor drones that detect, track, and destroy incoming drones, including Shahed-type drones frequently used by Russia and Iran.
Interest in Ukraine’s drone defense expertise has spread across the Middle East, with several countries, including Qatar, sending officials and military representatives to tour Ukrainian facilities and learn from Kyiv’s wartime innovations.
According to the WSJ, delegations have visited factories and development centers to observe how Ukrainian engineers refine counter-drone tactics and systems based on real battlefield experience.
Officials demonstrated how systems are assembled and explained how designs are continuously refined based on real battlefield conditions.
Engineers involved in the effort say combat experience has become a key advantage in countering mass drone attacks. One person familiar with the program said developers are “constantly adapting the drones based on what they see on the battlefield.”
The development comes as tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East after the U.S., in a joint operation with Israel, carried out strikes on several Iranian cities on Feb. 28 that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials.
Tehran has since retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and several Gulf states, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Russian drone strikes Ukrainian train with 200 passengers on board
A Russian drone hit a passenger train in Ukraine's Sumy Oblast on March 8, the media outlet Suspilne reported, citing the regional prosecutor's office.
The attack took place at around 5:30 a.m. local time, according to Suspilne.
The train at the time had 200 passengers on board.
Local authorities reported no injuries at the time, and passengers were redirected to their final stations. Train operator Ukrzaliznytsia, or Ukrainian Railways, told Suspilne that they planned no changes to the route.
The strike was part of a broader overnight aerial campaign on Ukrainian railways that hit a number of junctions in western Ukraine as well, with Ukrzaliznytsia reporting damage in Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia Oblasts.
The drone was preliminarily identified as a Lancet, one of Russia's preferred strike drones.
Ukrainian railways have had a rough go of the past several months as Russia has ramped up its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure near the frontline.
The campaign has not spared civilians. A similar drone strike at the end of January killed five people and injured two others in Kharkiv Oblast, Sumy's neighbor to the southeast.
Note from the author:
Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.
