Russian missile strike kills three, wounds 10 in Kharkiv region, Ukraine says

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(Reuters) -A Russian missile strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia killed three people, with three teenagers among the 10 wounded, Kharkiv regional officials said on Monday.

The overnight attack damaged multi-storey residence blocks and destroyed scores of cars in the city centre, Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the region bordering Russia, said on the Telegram messaging app.

A photograph provided by regional authorities showed the damaged facade of a multi-storey brick building with windows blown out, as flames burned on an upper floor and debris and broken tree branches littered the area.

The teenagers were among the injured, Vitali Karabanov, head of Balakliia’s military administration, said on Telegram, while nine of the injured were admitted to hospital.

Moscow made no immediate comment on the attack. Reuters could not independently verify Karabanov’s comments.

Russia has rained down regular missile, drone and artillery strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, smashing homes and infrastructure, severing power links and subjecting residents to constant air-raid alerts.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched nearly four years ago, but thousands have been killed in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

Parts of the region, and the city of Izyum in its south, had no power supply overnight, after Russia’s attacks late on Sunday injured a 14-year-old, city authorities said on Telegram.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence Fernandez)