Russian forces make three strikes on Kharkiv, 15 injured, officials say

(Reuters) -Russian forces launched three strikes on Friday on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injuring 15 people, including three children, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Terekhov said eight people were being treated in hospital.

Kharkiv police, quoted by public broadcaster Suspilne, said the strikes hit three different city districts.

One strike, caused by a guided bomb, hit an area outside a hospital. A second hit an area of private homes and the third an open area with grass.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said four of the injured were hospital patients. He said building facades were damaged in the strike.

Further southeast in Kharkiv region, in the village of Kivsharivka, a Russian strike killed two people and injured two, regional police said.

And in southern Kherson region, partly controlled by Russian forces, a woman died in Russian shelling of an area outside the main Ukrainian-held city, also known as Kherson.

Reuters could not verify independently the accounts.

Russia’s military says it does not target civilians.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio)