Russian airborne troops land in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, clashes erupt

The Ukrainian military says immediate clashes have erupted after Russian paratroopers landed in Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv on the seventh day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

“Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv … and attacked a local hospital,” the army said on Wednesday, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

“There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians.”

According to Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, a fire broke out on Wednesday in the barracks of a flight school in the city following an air raid.

“Practically there are no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit,” he said in a statement posted on Telegram.

The city’s governor, Oleg Synegubov, also said on Telegram that seven people were killed in an attack on a government building and that 24 people were wounded.

The reports could be independently confirmed. Russia says it is only targeting Ukraine’s military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with high-precision weapons.