President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reiterated his call on Ukraine's allies to allow Ukraine to use advanced Western weapons to hit deeper inside Russia in the aftermath of a Russian strike on Kharkiv that left three people dead and at least 36 wounded.
Two boys, aged 11 and 15, were among the dead, authorities reported.
Russian forces reportedly used an FAB-500 guided aerial bomb to strike the nine-story apartment building in Ukraine's second-largest city. Guided aerial bombs are powerful weapons that Russia has been increasingly using to hit civilian targets inside Ukraine.
"Tragically, there are casualties, including children, and more people may still be trapped under the rubble," Zelenskiy wrote in a message on X together with a video of the burning site of the attack.
WATCH: Russia struck a residential building in Kharkiv early on October 31, killing three people. Two boys, aged 11 and 15, were among the dead. RFE/RL spoke with the aunt of one of the victims.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said separately that the fourth floor of the building in the city's Saltiv district had been hit, starting a fire. Parts of the city went dark after the strike, according to reports.
The strike on Kharkiv was the third one this week. At least four other people were killed in the previous two strikes on the city center and the Osnovyanskiy district that used guided aerial bombs and missiles.
"Partners see what happens every day," Zelenskiy wrote, adding, "in these circumstances, every delayed decision on their part means dozens or even hundreds more Russian bombs used against Ukraine."
"Their decisions are the lives of our people," Zelenskiy added.
Ukraine has long asked its partners to give it permission to use long-range missile systems such as British Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles or U.S. long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) to strike military targets deeper inside Russian territory in order to diminish Moscow's capacity to hit Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure.
However, the United States, Britain, and other Western countries have so far refused to budge, arguing that such permission would lead to an escalation of the conflict.
