KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling pounded a densely populated area in Ukraine’s second-largest city Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 21 with a barrage that struck a mosque, a medical facility and a shopping area, according to officials and witnesses at the scene.
Police in the northeast city of Kharkiv said cluster bombs hit Barabashovo Market. a public bazaar where Associated Press journalists saw a woman crying over her dead husband’s body. Local officials said the shelling also struck a bus stop, a gym and a residential building.
The bombardment came after Russia on Wednesday reiterated its plans to seize territories beyond eastern Ukraine, where the Russian military has spent months trying to conquer Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is south of Kharkiv.