Clear blue sky is visible through the gaping hole carved through a block of flats by a Russian guided bomb in Kharkiv, northeast .
Five of the building’s nine storeys have been obliterated and thick white dust fills the air and dries our throats as emergency workers send cascades of rubble crashing to the ground.
A wave of terrifying daylight strikes hit four districts on Tuesday. Authorities soon reported that at least three people were killed and 36 taken to hospital.
The unrecognisable remains of a fourth victim were being photographed by recovery workers as the Daily Express arrived at the scene in the city’s Saltivka district on Wednesday.
Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, wrote on X that the others killed were a resident in a multi-storey building, a bread factory employee and a passerby near a football stadium.
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The aftermath of a deadly attack in Kharkiv (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster)
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He added: “The victims would have been even more, but fortunately, some of the enemy bombs hit the open area.
“This is the third direct hit to a high-rise apartment building in the city in the last two weeks.
“In total, since the beginning of September, we have 266 damaged houses, including the residential sector.”
’s second city, and one of its most important cultural and educational centres, remains under constant threat.
Kharkiv sits just 19 miles south of the country’s border with – so close that missiles often strike their targets before warning sirens sound.
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Boarded or taped-up windows are a common sight in the city centre and, as we drove north, where the shelling is most intense, buildings increasingly bore the scars of shrapnel from heavy shelling.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly this week, ’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his plea for support “from all nations” to end the war.
He wrote on X that the strikes in Kharkiv had targeted “the everyday life of ordinary people”.
Zelenskyy added: “ is a terrorist, and it proves this every day with its own actions, with its choice to wage war, and attempts to expand it.
“We just need to stop the terror. To have security. To have a future. We need to end this criminal and unprovoked aggression that violates all global rules.”
Phones ping with air raid alerts so frequently that they must be silenced at night.
But Kharkiv is also a city of quiet resilience, where many residents no longer run to the nearest shelter when sirens wail.
There are moments – while admiring the architecture or enjoying a hearty bowl of borsch in a restaurant – when it is almost possible to forget the looming conflict.
Vladyslav Spodyrev, 20, who lives in the south of the city, said: “The day has 24 hours and sirens sound for maybe half of the day.
“It’s hard to go to the shelter every time and sit there. We need to live our lives.”
The law student added: “Life is quite hard nowadays because Russian missiles and bombs are attacking Kharkiv every day. But we stand, and I hope it will be over one day.”