Service members of pro-Russian troops fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict near a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 2, 2022.
Service members of pro-Russian troops fire a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launch system during fighting in Ukraine-Russia conflict near a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 2, 2022. Reuters / ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO

KEY POINTS

  • Russian forces shelled residential areas in the Ukrainian cities of Nikopol and Kharkiv Tuesday
  • The strikes on Nikopol injured four civilians and damaged several houses
  • Infrastructure facilities and other buildings were damaged as a result of the attack on Kharkiv

Russian forces carried out artillery strikes on residential areas across eastern Ukraine Tuesday, injuring civilians and damaging infrastructure, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Russian army hit the residential areas of Nikopol as it shelled the city shortly past 4:35 p.m., Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk, announced in a statement.

A total of 20 rockets fired from BM-21 "Grad" multiple launch rocket systems and 10 shells from artillery cannons landed in the city, according to Reznichenko, who is also the head of the region's military administration.

Four civilians were injured as a result of the attack, and one of them was taken to a hospital, preliminary data showed.

In addition, the Russian strikes damaged several houses and caused others to catch fire, Reznichenko said. Firefighters responded to the scene.

Earlier that day, Russian forces also carried out attacks against several neighborhoods in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Russian forces fired on the Shevchenkivskyi and Kyivskyi neighborhoods in Kharkiv's central district at 2:15 a.m. Tuesday.

The Saltivskyi, Industrialnyi and Kholodnohirskyi were affected as well, according to Ihor Terekhov, the city's mayor.

There was no information regarding casualties, but several infrastructure facilities and other buildings were damaged as a result of the attack, Pravda reported.

Russian forces shelled the residential area of Kharkiv's Saltiv district the day before.

The Monday morning attack left seven people injured. A person later died at a hospital, while one of the injured remained in serious condition, according to a report by the Kyiv Post.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed at least 5,514 civilians, including 356 children, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its most recent casualty report on the war.

The ongoing conflict has also left another 7,698 civilians injured, according to the agency.

The actual figures are "considerably higher" due to delays in the receipt of information as well as the need to verify reports, the OHCHR said.

Read more

"Most" of the recorded civilian casualties were caused by "the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes," according to the agency's report.

Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, "intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities" is considered a war crime.

A rescuer passes to a man national Ukrainian clothes from the House of Culture building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 25, 2022.
A rescuer passes to a man national Ukrainian clothes from the House of Culture building destroyed by a Russian missile strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 25, 2022. Reuters / STRINGER