A Russian glide bomb struck a five-story apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring at least 12 people including a three-year-old girl, local officials said on Thursday.

The bomb hit between the third and fourth floors of the building on Wednesday night, igniting blazes, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Firefighters searched for survivors through smoke and rubble.

The city of Kharkiv, located around 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Russian border, has been a frequent target of aerial attacks throughout the war against Russia that is now deep into its third year.

Rescue workers clear rubble from a building damaged by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv
Rescue workers clear rubble from a building damaged by a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv (Yevhen Titov/AP)

Glide bombs have become an increasingly common weapon in the war. They have terrorised civilians and bludgeoned the Ukrainian army’s frontline defences.

They were a key weapon in Russia’s capture of the tactically significant town of Vuhledar on Wednesday, as Russian forces wreak destruction on the eastern Donetsk region and force weary Ukrainian troops to withdraw from obliterated towns and villages.

Ukraine has no effective countermeasure for glide bombs, which are launched from Russian aircraft inside Russia.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest Kharkiv attack highlighted the urgent need for increased support from Ukraine’s Western allies.

Mr Zelensky recently held talks with officials in the United States in an effort to ensure further Western military support.

Russia has had the battlefield initiative since late last year, when a Ukrainian counteroffensive petered out. Ukraine is grappling with a critical manpower problem on the front line and is straining to hold back Russia’s grinding assaults.

Though Russia’s battlefield gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is adding up as the Ukrainians are pushed backward and yield ground.

Both sides have kept up regular cross-border aerial attacks, usually at night.

Ukraine’s air force said on Thursday that 78 out of 105 Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight were destroyed on Thursday as 15 regions of the country came under attack.

The Russian military, meanwhile, intercepted 113 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to a statement by the defence ministry in Moscow. The drones were destroyed over four Russian regions on the border with Ukraine: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh, it said.