Three people died following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Kharkiv on August 23, according to regional military administration head Oleh Syniehubov.
Units from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine rescued and evacuated eight people from the affected area, Syniehubov reported. Several of those pulled from the site sustained injuries and were taken to hospital.
Medics and emergency crews continued searching the surrounding area to check for any additional casualties while work to clear the site remained underway, Syniehubov added. Ukrainian air defense forces had earlier warned on the evening of August 23 about a jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicle operating near Kharkiv.
Kharkiv, located in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border, has faced repeated bombardment since the start of the invasion. Russian military forces regularly strike Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across the country using strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems.
Legal classification of attacks
Ukrainian authorities and international organisations classify systemic strikes on civilian infrastructure as war crimes, stating that the attacks are targeted. Shelling essential life-support networks and medical facilities to cut off electricity, heating, water, communications, and healthcare constitutes evidence of genocidal intent, according to Ukrainian officials.
Legal scholars, genocide researchers, and human rights defenders state that Russian actions during the full-scale conflict meet the criteria for genocide under international law. They cite official statements by Russian leadership denying the existence of Ukrainians as a distinct ethnic group, public calls for destruction, and targeted attacks on vital municipal services.
Human rights groups also highlight measures taken in occupied territories, including the targeting of pro-Ukrainian citizens, the elimination of educators and cultural figures, the enforcement of Russian educational curricula on children, the forced deportation of parentless children to Russia, and the destruction or theft of Ukrainian books, museum exhibits, and historical artifacts.
Genocide convention and Russian denials
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, mandates its 149 member states to prevent and punish genocidal acts in times of war and peace. The convention defines genocide as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, including killing members, inflicting conditions designed to bring about physical destruction, preventing births, or forcibly transferring children.
The leadership of the Russian Federation denies that its military targets civilian infrastructure or kills civilians in Ukraine, maintaining that Russian forces do not intentionally attack hospitals, schools, energy networks, or water facilities.
