Russian Missile Strike Kills 10 in Kharkiv Village, Officials Say

A Russian missile strike on a village in northeastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region killed at least 10 people and wounded 17 others on Tuesday, according to local officials. The attack targeted the center of Pechenihy, a bustling area where residents gather for work, shopping, and dining.

Oleksaner Gusarov, head of the Pechenihy administration, said the first missile hit at 8:30 a.m., followed by a second strike less than a minute later. One missile struck a cafe directly, killing employees and visitors, while the other hit a service station parking lot.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as brutal. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, reported that 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store, and at least seven vehicles were damaged or destroyed.

A cafe owner at the scene described the chaos: "Dust, smoke, screams, girls who managed to run into a basement, cars were burning. We called each other to find out who was alive, who was not."

The strike comes as Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Russia since the invasion began over four years ago, firing nearly 800 drones just two days after a similar salvo. The two countries remain locked in an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes.

Analysts note that fighting along the roughly 1,250-kilometer front line in eastern and southern Ukraine is constrained by heavy use of drones and ground robots, with neither side making significant territorial gains.