Russian bomb hits building in Ukraine's 2nd largest city, killing 2, including a 12-year-old boy

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces struck a residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv on Thursday, killing two, including a 12-year-old boy, and injuring scores of others, and launched scores of other attacks as they continued their grinding onslaught in the country's east.

Regional head Oleh Syniehubov said the boy was fatally injured when the building was hit by a Russian 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) glide bomb.

“He was freed from under the rubble with severe head injuries and fractures," Syniehubov wrote on social media. "Doctors performed resuscitation measures for more than half an hour. Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the child.”

Syniehubov said later that rescuers also retrieved the body of an unidentified man from the debris.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least 35 people were injured in the attack and others could still be trapped under the rubble, including a missing 15-year-old boy.

Russia has increasingly used powerful glide bombs to pummel Ukrainian positions along the 1,000-kilometer (600-miles) line of contact and strike cities dozens of kilometers (miles) from the front line. Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million, is about 30 kilometers (less than 20 miles) from the border.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly urged the United States to allow Ukraine to use long-range American missiles to strike air bases deeper in Russia that are used by aicraft carrying glide bombs. Washington so far has only allowed some strikes close to the border.

Zelenskyy repeated his request Thursday, publishing a video showing the ravaged building, at least three of its floors destroyed and the rest of it seriously damaged.

“Partners see what is happening every day," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "And under these conditions, each of their delayed decisions means at least dozens, if not hundreds of such Russian bombs against Ukraine. Their decisions are the lives of our people. Therefore, we must together stop Russia and do it with all possible force.”

Early Thursday, Russia also fired 10 missiles of various types at the Dniester Estuary bridge that connects the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region, Ukraine's air force said, adding that only two of them were intercepted. It didn't say whether the bridge was hit.

Russian forces also sent 43 exploding drones over at least nine Ukrainian regions, the air force said. It said 17 were shot down, 23 jammed and three flew back to Russian-controlled territories.

The head of Kyiv city administration, Serhii Popko, said debris from some of the drones that were intercepted over the capital fell in the Podil district just north of downtown, causing minor damage. According to Popko, there was only one day in October in which Kyiv residents did not hear an air alert. During the month, Kyiv experienced two air alerts per day on average, repelling 20 actual aerial attacks targeting the city.

In the country's east, Russian forces continued their slow but steady assault, trying to capitalize on Ukrainian shortages of manpower and ammunition. In Moscow, the Defense Ministry reported the capture of the village of Yasna Polyana in the Donetsk region that lies on the way to the well-fortified Ukrainian stronghold of Kurakhove.

Ukraine struck back Thursday with drone attacks.

Authorities in the Russia-occupied city of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov reported a drone attack on the port early Thursday, saying three people were injured.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses on Thursday downed 21 Ukrainian drones over several regions and the Black Sea.

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, Russian soldiers fire a 152 mm gun Giatsint-B from their position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, Russian soldiers fire a Tyulpan self-propelled heavy mortar from their position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, a Russian self-propelled multiple rocket launcher Uragan (Hurricane) fires toward Ukrainian position at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo provided by Kharkiv City Administration, an ambulance evacuates an injured man after a multi-storey apartment building was hit by Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Kharkiv City Administration via AP)

In this photo provided by Kharkiv City Administration a multi-storey apartment building is seen damaged by Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Kharkiv City Administration via AP)

A multi-storey apartment building is seen damaged by the Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Rescuers help people after a multi-storey apartment building was hit by Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

In this photo provided by Kharkiv City Administration a multi-storey apartment building is seen damaged by Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Kharkiv City Administration via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday bragged of its recently tested new intercontinental ballistic missile, calling it “the world’s strongest,” a claim viewed by outside experts as propaganda though the test showed an advancement in the North's quest to build a more reliable weapons arsenal.

A missile launched by North Korea on Thursday flew higher and stayed in the air for a longer duration than any other weapon the country had so far fired. It signaled that the North has achieved progress in acquiring a nuclear-armed ICBM that can hit the U.S. mainland. But foreign experts assess that the country has still a few remaining technological issues to master before acquiring such a functioning ICBM.

On Friday, the North’s Korean Central News Agency identified the missile as “Hwasong-19” ICBM and called it “the world’s strongest strategic missile” and “the perfected weapon system.”

KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, describing it as “an appropriate military action” to express North Korea’s resolve to respond to its enemies’ moves that escalated tensions and threats to North Korea’s national security. It said Kim thanked weapons scientists for demonstrating North Korea’s “matchless strategic nuclear attack capability.”

South Korea’s military earlier said that North Korea could have tested a solid-fueled missile but Friday’s KCNA dispatch didn’t say what propellant the Hwasong-19 ICBM uses. Observers say the color of exhaust flames seen in North Korean media photos on the launch still suggest the new ICBM uses solid fuels.

Before Thursday’s test, North Korea’s most advanced ICBM was known as the “Hwasong-18” missile which uses solid fuels. Pre-loaded solid propellants make it easier to move missiles and require much less launch preparation times than liquid propellants that must be fueled before liftoffs. So it’s more difficult for opponents to detect launches by solid-fuel missiles.

In recent years, North Korea has reported steady advancement in its efforts to obtain nuclear-tipped missiles. Many foreign experts believe North Korea likely has missiles that can deliver nuclear strikes on all of South Korea, but it has yet to possess nuclear missiles that can travel to the mainland U.S.

There are questions on whether North Korea has acquired the technology to shield warheads from the high-temperature, high-stress environment of atmospheric reentry. Many foreign analysts say North Korea also must have improved altitude control and guidance systems for missiles. They say North Korea needs an ability to place multiple warheads on a single missile to defeat its rivals’ missile defenses.

All of North Korea’s known ICBM tests, including Thursday’s, have been performed on steep angles to avoid neighboring countries. South Korean military spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said Thursday that a high-angel trajectory launch cannot verify a missile’s re-entry vehicle technology, though North Korea has previously claimed to have acquired that technology.

Observers say that Thursday's launch, the North's first ICBM test in almost a year, was largely meant to grab American attention days before the U.S. presidential election and respond to international condemnation over North Korea's reported dispatch of troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.

North Korea's reported troop dispatch highlights the expanding military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. South Korea. the U.S. and others worry North Korea might seek high-tech, sensitive Russian technology to perfect its nuclear and missile programs in return for joining the Russian-Ukraine war.

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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)