A tragic incident unfolded in the northeastern city of Kharkiv as a Ukrainian prosecutor, her husband, and their three young children lost their lives in a Russian drone attack on an oil depot, causing blazes and damaging residential properties, officials confirmed on Saturday.
The regional prosecutor’s office identified the deceased as Olha Putyatina, along with her children Oleksiy, 7, Mykhailo, 3, and 10-month-old Pavlo, stating, “The family was held hostage by a fire inside their own home.”
Putyatina, aged 35, who was on maternity leave, had been serving in the Kharkiv regional office since June 2012, as per an announcement on its official Telegram channel.
Tragically, an elderly couple residing in the same street also lost their lives, with three others sustaining injuries in the city.
The devastating drone strikes occurred late on Friday, igniting several large fires and engulfing at least 15 residential homes in the eastern part of Kharkiv, disclosed Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov.
The family of five, who perished, resided in one of the houses on Kotelnia Street, as mentioned by Serhii Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of the National Police in the region, addressing reporters amidst the charred remnants of the street.
The Ukrainian air force reported that their air defence and mobile units successfully downed 23 out of 31 Russian-launched drones, intended for targeting the Kharkiv and Odesa regions in the south.
Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, reported that the drone attack resulted in injuries to four individuals and inflicted damage upon industrial facilities, vehicles, and certain port infrastructure.
In Kharkiv, Synehubov revealed that several drones struck the oil depot, leading to fuel leakage. Firefighters and rescue teams toiled throughout the night to douse the flames and clear the debris.
Synehubov further mentioned that Russian drones also targeted a restaurant in the small town of Velykyi Berluk, situated 100 km (60 miles) from Kharkiv, though no casualties were reported there.
At the time, Russia had not responded to requests for comment. Moscow had consistently maintained that its forces did not intentionally target civilian sites.
Kharkiv had been enduring regular assaults since the commencement of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and had witnessed frequent attacks in recent weeks.