Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
have launched several rocket attacks on
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
, Ukraine, during the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
.
2022
February 2022 Kharkiv cluster bombing
On 28 February 2022, a series of rocket strikes by the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
killed nine civilians and wounded 37 more during the battle of Kharkiv. The Russian Army used
cluster munition
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...
in the attack. Due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons used in densely populated areas,
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
described these strikes as a possible
war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
.
Kharkiv government building airstrike
On 1 March 2022, Russian forces attacked the government administrative building of the
Kharkiv Oblast
Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine.
Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...
, located in the city of
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
.
March 2022 Kharkiv cluster bombing
On 24 March 2022, a rocket strike by the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
killed 6 civilians and wounded 15 more during the battle of Kharkiv, part of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. The Russian Army used 9N210/9N235
cluster munition
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...
and
BM-27 Uragan
The BM-27 Uragan (; GRAU index 9P140) is a self-propelled 220 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union to deliver cluster munitions. The system began its service with the Soviet Army in the late 1970s, and was its first spi ...
multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...
in the attack. Due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons used in densely populated areas,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
On 15 April 2022, a series of rocket strikes by the
Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...
killed nine civilians and wounded 35 more during the battle of Kharkiv, part of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. The Russian Army used 9N210/9N235
cluster munition
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy veh ...
in the attack. Due to the indiscriminate nature of these weapons when used in densely populated areas,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
described these strikes as a possible
war crime
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
.
Kharkiv dormitories missile strike
On 17 and 18 August 2022, the missile strike on dormitories in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
was performed by
Russian aviation
The transport network of the Russian Federation is one of the world's most extensive transport networks. The national web of roads, railways and airways stretches almost from Kaliningrad in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the east, and ...
with a series of missiles. The impact killed 25 people including an 11-year-old boy.
2023
December 2023
On 30 December 2023, Russian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv with missiles, injuring at least 28 people, including a foreign journalist, and damaging civilian infrastructure.
2024
January 2024
On 2 January, strikes were conducted on Kharkiv utilizing the
Hwasong-11A
The Hwasong-11A (), also known as KN-23 under the United States’s naming convention, is a North Korean single-stage, solid-fueled short-range ballistic missile.
Design
The Hwasong-11A bears an external resemblance to the Russian Iskander-M ...
(KN-23) missiles developed by
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
.
On 23 January, three strikes on Kharkiv led to nine victims, including a 4-year-old child. In the evening in particular, the central Pushkinska Street was hit. In response, on 26 January 2024 the
Kharkiv City Council
Kharkiv City Council () is the city council for the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, and is elected every five years to run the city's local government.
History
Until 1870, members of the city council were elected according to the estate order, and ...
Hryhorii Skovoroda
Hryhorii Skovoroda, also Gregory Skovoroda or Grigory Skovoroda (; , ; , ; 3 December 1722 – 9 November 1794), was a philosopher of Ukrainian Cossack origin who lived and worked in the Russian Empire. He was a poet, a teacher and a composer ...
street. On 29 April 2024 the
Kharkiv metro
The Kharkiv Metro () is the rapid transit system that serves the city of Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The metro was the second in Ukraine (after Kyiv Metro, Kyiv) and the sixth in the Soviet Union, USSR when it opened on 22–23 ...
On 9 and 10 May 2024, the Russians tried to break through the front in Kharkiv while the Ukrainians resisted, starting the
2024 Kharkiv offensive
On 10 May 2024, the Russian Armed Forces began an offensive operation in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, shelling and attempting to breach the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the direction of Vovchansk and Kharkiv. ''The Guardian'' reported ...
.
On 13 May 2024, the first of a scatter of underground schools in Kharkiv was opened in Industrialnyi District, so children could continue their education amidst the Russian attacks on the city.
25 May supermarket strike
On 25 May, a Russian strike on a hardware store and a residential area killed 18 and injured 65 others.
July 2024
On 13 July, a Russian
double tap strike
A double tap (named after the shooting technique where two shots are fired in rapid succession at the same target) is the practice of following a strike (be it bombardment such missile, air strikes, artillery shelling, or detonation of explosive ...
on the village of Budy killed two and injured 25 others, including two children.
August 2024
On August 6, a Russian missile struck the city center, killing one and injuring 12 others.
On August 30, Russian missiles hit an apartment building and playground in the city killing 7 people, including a 14 year old girl. At least a further 77 people were wounded.
September 2024
On September 15, a Russian missile strike hit a 12-story apartment block, killing one person and injuring at least 40.
October 2024
On October 30, a Russian missile hit a nine-story apartment block, killing three people.
2025
February 2025
On 28 February 2025, Russia fired drones against a medical facility, injuring seven people.
March 2025
On 30 March 2025, Russia fired drones against a military hospital, a dormitory hosting refugees and residential buildings. Two people were killed and 35 wounded.
June 2025
On 11 June 2025, Russia fired drones on buildings and public facilities, killing 3 individuals and wounding 60 people. The attack included the use of 17 Shahed
loitering munitions
A loitering munition, also known as a suicide drone, kamikaze drone, or exploding drone, is a weapon with a warhead that is typically designed to Loiter (aeronautics), loiter until a target is designated, then crash into it.Slobidskyi and Osnovianskyi districts,