Kiev, 31 August 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The number of dead and injured from a Russian airstrike on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv rose on Saturday, local authorities said.

The death toll from Friday's attack climbed from six to seven, while the number of injured doubled to at least 97.

The deceased include a 14-year-old girl, while 22 minors were injured, military governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Guided aerial bombs hit a 12-storey residential building, which partially collapsed, officials said.

On the Russian side, Ukrainian shelling killed five people in Belgorod, a large Russian city close to the border, officials there said.

There were also at least 46 injured, up from the initial 37 reported on Friday evening, including seven children, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. Early reports said six children had been injured.

The Belgorod region is frequently attacked by Ukraine because the Russian army uses it as a launching point for attacks on Kharkiv.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half years with Western help. Recently Ukraine has massively increased its attacks on Russian regions in order to destroy military supplies there.

At the beginning of August, 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers marched into the Kursk region, where they now control dozens of villages and more than 1,000 square kilometres, according to the military leadership in Kiev.

Photo: EPA