85-year-old woman killed as Russia strikes Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast with aerial bomb, authorities report

Archive photo for illustrative purposes: Kupiansk city administration building following a Russian airstrike on the city on Feb. 17, 2024. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A woman was found dead under the rubble of a four-story apartment building struck by a Russian aerial bomb in the city of Kupiansk in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, the State Emergency Service reported on April 7.

The victim lived on the last floor of the building, and the rescuers used a crane from a local utility company to retrieve the body, according to the report. Two floors of the building were destroyed, it added.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that the woman was 85 and that the attack occurred around 10:40 p.m. on April 6.

Russia continues to target civilian areas near the front line, forcing the local residents to live in danger and heavily damaging many cities, towns, and villages in Ukraine's east and south. Local authorities have installed mandatory evacuation protocols in several areas, trying to convince as many people to flee their war-torn homes.

While Ukrainian soldiers say that Russian offensive has slowed down over the past months, Russia has scaled up their use of KAB guided aerial bombs against civilians in the Kupiansk area.

Kupiansk underwent Russian occupation in 2022. Since then, heavy fighting has raged on near the city, severely damaged by the war, as Russian forces continue to attack the Kupiansk area.

Russian forces have the initiative on the Kupiansk front, launching several large-scale offensives over the past year in an apparent desperate bid to recapture the city.

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