Ukraine-Russia war: As Western weapons trickle through to Kyiv, Putin seizes chance to hit Kharkiv
Russia has reopened a major front in its war with Ukraine in a move that will stretch Kyiv’s already undermanned and outgunned forces as they wait for Western weapons.
The Russian military unleashed a ferocious barrage of artillery and airstrikes in the early hours of Friday morning as ground troops attempted the most significant incursion into northeastern Ukraine – territory that shares a long border with Russia – in two years.
Fierce fighting raged into the weekend in different locations along a 45-mile strip of the frontier in the Kharkiv region.
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Explosions ‘in town under attack’
Moscow claimed to have seized five villages, while Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, said battles were taking place around seven villages.
In a sign of the seriousness of the challenge, Ukraine is deploying reserve forces to help repel the Russian assault and a senior commander has been appointed to lead the effort.
The timing of the attack could not be worse for Kyiv – which presumably is why Russia decided to act.
Russian troops are already slowly gaining ground in the eastern Donbas region – a prime focus of the war – closing in on the hilltop town of Chasiv Yar.
Should that Ukrainian stronghold fall, it would give the invading troops a vantage point to strike more easily into the rest of the Donbas, putting key cities like Kramatorsk at risk.
By stepping up attacks in the Kharkiv direction, Russia could force Ukrainian commanders to divert resources from the East to the northeast, weakening their defensive line in the Donbas, which is already under huge strain.
Residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages wait to be evacuated. Pic: Reuters
Making the situation even more critical, delays in the delivery of additional weapons and ammunition from Western allies to the frontline have left Ukrainian forces exposed.
The United States – by far Kyiv’s most important military donor – took six months to approve a $61bn (£49bn) package of assistance.
It was finally passed by Congress in April and supplies are starting to arrive.
The wait for evacuation to Kharkiv from threatened villages. Pic: Reuters
But over the period of limbo, Ukraine’s British and other European partners were unable to make up for the US shortfall because their respective militaries lack sufficiently deep stockpiles, while efforts to step up the production of new munitions are taking too long.
This is despite the urgency of a crisis that threatens security for the whole of Europe, not just Ukraine.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, only announced he was putting the UK defence industry on a war footing last month – more than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Packing before leaving home. Pic: Reuters
In addition, Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, told Sky News more than a week ago that Britain would be appointing an envoy to oversee the acceleration and expansion of weapons production – but that appointment has yet to be made either.
By contrast, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his entire economy on a war footing from day one. Russian production lines are delivering new supplies in defiance of western sanctions, while states such as Iran and North Korea have sold huge quantities of munitions to Moscow.
The Russian military has also benefitted from Soviet-era stockpiles of weapons that might not be particularly reliable or accurate but are better to fight with than nothing at all.
The material imbalance, coupled with Russia’s ability to throw far more men into the fight than Ukraine, yet again gives the invading forces an advantage that they are exploiting.
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv. Pic: Reuters
While Mr Putin has not declared his intent, Kharkiv remains a clear target.
The regional capital was a key target of the president’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
His forces seized swathes of Kharkiv region, but never managed to conquer the city.
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A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the late summer of 2022 pushed the Russians out, but – thanks to their shared border – they never disappeared.
Instead, Russia started launching intermittent artillery and drone strikes against nearby Ukrainian villages and towns as well as longer-range missile strikes against the regional capital.
The aggression had escalated in recent weeks before erupting into Friday’s ground assault.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
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UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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