The merciless attacks of the Russian Federation on Kharkiv continue: there are again child victims in the city – three boys aged 5 months, 9 and 10 years
The full-scale war, which the Russian Federation is waging against Ukraine for the fourth year, has turned into daily attacks on Kharkiv and its civilian population. There are constant explosions and alarms in the city, and the most painful thing is that among the victims are children – residents of high-rise buildings, babies in cradles, schoolchildren who do not remember what silence sounds like. Kharkiv children are not only witnesses, but also victims of war.
The evening of August 1, 2025 became another terrible reminder of the reality in which Kharkiv lives. In the Kyiv district of the city, an enemy drone hit near a residential building. Mayor of the city Ihor Terekhov reported about ten victims. Among them are three boys aged 5 months, 9 and 10 years. These strikes are part of a systemic terror tactic that turns a peaceful backyard into a battlefield.
According to Terekhov, in July 2025 alone, Kharkiv was subjected to 103 enemy attacks. The absolute majority are strikes by kamikaze drones of the Shahed type. They are launched in groups, at low altitude, at night, to complicate the work of air defense. Another characteristic feature of the July attacks is a combined approach: first aerial bombs, then a series of drones, and for the same purpose. It was the same with playgrounds, hospitals, and houses.
The practice of repeated strikes became especially insidious: a few minutes after the first shelling, when rescuers, doctors, and communal services arrive at the scene. In this way, the enemy does not just destroy buildings, but deliberately targets the rescue process, knowing that among those who will find themselves in the zone of the second explosion, there will be civilians, children, and those who saved others.
In July, shelling in Kharkiv injured 164 people, twenty of them children. 179 residential buildings were also damaged. And each of them is someone’s home or room, and someone’s cradle.
This is the reality of Kharkiv, in which there is no peace at night, and daylight does not guarantee safety. The enemy’s tactics are clear: disable air defense, tire rescuers, destroy medical infrastructure, and most importantly, break the psychological resistance of the civilian population. And the most terrible thing is that children are the most vulnerable link in this system.
However, the international response to the strikes on Kharkiv, which resulted in the death and injury of children, remains limited both in terms of content and consequences. Despite regular statements of concern and support, such events rarely become the subject of in-depth political analysis or concrete decisions outside of Ukraine. Recorded losses among the civilian population, in particular among children, do not lead to significant strengthening of sanctions or changes in the security policy of the partner states. In most cases, the official response is reduced to routine diplomatic wording. At the same time, the scale of the shelling of Kharkiv, the nature of the damage and the number of victims indicate a systemic threat that does not diminish over time and directly affects the living conditions of the civilian population, including children.
