Russian forces struck a residential building in Kharkiv on October 31, 2024, killing three people, including two teenage boys, and injuring at least 35 others, AP reported. The attack hit Ukraine's second-largest city with a 500-kilogram glide bomb and left a multi-storey apartment building heavily damaged.
Regional head Oleh Syniehubov said one of the dead was a 12-year-old boy who was pulled from the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures but could not be revived after more than half an hour of resuscitation. Rescuers later recovered the body of a 15-year-old boy and an unidentified man. AP reported that others could still have been trapped under the debris in the immediate aftermath.
The strike was part of Russia's expanding use of glide bombs to hit both front-line positions and civilian areas farther away. Kharkiv lies about 30 kilometers from the Russian border, and AP said the weapons have increasingly been used to pound Ukraine along the 1,000-kilometer line of contact while also reaching cities well away from the battlefield.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the attack to renew his call for long-range American missiles that could hit air bases deeper in Russia. He argued that delayed decisions from Ukraine's partners translate into more bombs falling on civilians, and AP said he paired that appeal with video showing the apartment block's destroyed floors and scarred facade.
The Kharkiv strike did not stand alone. AP reported that Russia also fired missiles at a bridge in the Odesa region and launched 43 drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions that same night, while the Russian military said it captured a village in Donetsk. The broader picture was one of sustained pressure, with Ukraine still fighting shortages of manpower and ammunition as the war ground on.
For Kharkiv residents, the attack added another chapter to months of air alerts and repeated bombardment. AP said the city experienced frequent warnings throughout October, and the apartment strike showed how easily a residential block can become the target when Russia uses heavy glide bombs to reach deep into urban neighborhoods.
AP said Russia also fired 10 missiles at the Dniester Estuary bridge in the Odesa region and sent 43 exploding drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions that night. Some drones were shot down, others jammed, and debris fell in Kyiv. That broader pattern showed that the Kharkiv strike was only one piece of a larger aerial campaign rather than a one-off event.
For Ukraine, the use of glide bombs remains a serious problem because the weapons can be launched from relative safety and still reach civilian neighborhoods. Zelenskyy's appeal for deeper-strike capability was part of an effort to push that threat back, but AP reported no immediate change in policy. Kharkiv, only about 30 kilometers from the border, remains exposed to this kind of attack.
