Seven hurt as Russian aerial attack hits Ukrainian hospital

Russian forces launched powerful glide bombs and drones against Ukraine’s second-largest city in overnight attacks, hitting a hospital and wounding seven people, an official said.

It came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to travel to Washington and ask US President Donald Trump for more American military help.

The Russian attack on Kharkiv in Ukraine’s north east hit the city’s main hospital, forcing the evacuation of 50 patients, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said.

The attack’s main targets were energy facilities, Mr Zelensky said, without providing details of what was hit.

“Every day, every night, Russia strikes power plants, power lines, and our (natural) gas facilities,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.

Russian long-range strikes on its neighbour’s power grid are part of a campaign since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022 to disable Ukraine’s power supply, denying civilians heat and running water during the bitter winter.

The Ukrainian leader urged foreign countries to help blunt Russia’s long-range attacks by providing more air defence systems for the country, which is hard to defend from the air in its entirety.

“We are counting on the actions of the US and Europe, the G7, all partners who have these systems and can provide them to protect our people,” Mr Zelensky said.

“The world must force Moscow to sit down at the table for real negotiations.”

But the latest data on foreign military aid to Ukraine showed a sharp drop-off in recent help.

Military aid in July and August plunged by 43% compared with the first half of the year, Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks support to Ukraine, said on Tuesday.

That fall occurred after the creation of a fund that pools contributions from Nato members, except the US, to purchase American weapons, munitions and equipment for Ukraine. The financial arrangement is known as the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL.

In the first half of 2025, military aid had exceeded what was sent between 2022-2024, despite the lack of US contributions, the institute said.

Mr Zelensky is due to meet Mr Trump in Washington on Friday.

The talks are expected to centre on the potential US provision to Ukraine of sophisticated long-range weapons that can hit back at Russia.

Mr Trump has warned Moscow that he may send Tomahawk cruise missiles for Ukraine to use. Such a move, previously ruled out by Washington for fear of escalating the war, would deepen tensions between the United States and Russia.

But it could provide leverage to help push Moscow into negotiations after Mr Trump expressed frustration over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to budge on key aspects of a possible peace deal.

Tomahawk missiles would be the longest-range missiles in Kyiv’s arsenal and could allow it to strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow, with precision.

Unlike the drones that Ukraine has used for such strikes so far, Tomahawks carry a much heavier warhead and are more difficult to intercept as they fly at low altitude to dodge air defences.

Tomahawks would sharpen Ukraine’s ability to fight back against Russia, though its long-range attacks are already taking a toll on Russian oil production, Ukrainian officials and foreign military analysts say.

Its strikes using newly developed long-range missiles and drones are causing significant gas shortages in Russia, according to Mr Zelensky.

In a separate development, a UN convoy delivering aid in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region was attacked by Russian drones that set fire to two of the four trucks, but caused no casualties, officials said on Tuesday.

The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, said the trucks were clearly marked as belonging to the United Nations.

Mr Schmale described the attack in a front-line community as “utterly unacceptable.”

“Deliberately targeting humanitarians and humanitarian assets is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and might amount to a war crime,” he said in a statement.