Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv is ‘under missile attack’, says mayor as Putin’s forces advance in new offensive

KHARKIV has been hit with a missile barrage after Vladimir Putin launched a hellish new onslaught in the Ukrainian city just days ago.

Residents were urged to take cover during the longest air raid alert since the war began as Vlad's army pelted civilians with rockets.

A journalist on the ground said he had "lost count of the number of explosions".

He said at least a dozen or more had hit in just an hour on Thursday evening.

The air raid alert lasted for more than 16 and a half hours, making it the longest in Ukraine for over two years.

Mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said the Osnovyanskyi district specifically was struck sparking a fire.

Osnovyanskyi stretches from the centre of Kharkiv, home to 1.5 million people, to the south.

Moscow's forces had pushed several kilometres into the north of the region in recent days - marking a shift in tactic with the southern target.

Putin's brutal armies pummelled over 30 villages and towns in the region after moving in last Friday.

Military experts told The Sun that the new move in northern Ukraine is designed to distract Kyiv's forces so Putin can seize the Donbas.

Ukrainian president Zelensky had been in Kharkiv just hours earlier on Thursday to try and boost morale.

Meanwhile Chinese despot Xi Jinping was rubbing shoulders with Mad Vlad as the two dictators shored up a long-standing anti Western alliance.

Osnovyanskyi governor Oleh Synehubov said at least five Russian drones specifically hit his area - marking a southern shift for Russian targets.

More than 6,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of Russia's fresh onslaught.

Kyiv had suspected an attack of some kind would hit there after seeing almost 40,000 soldiers and 500 tanks massing at the border.

But even under Putin's relentless attempts to crush Ukraine - Kyiv's forces continue to hold strong.

On Sunday, just days after launching the Kharkiv plan, Putin lost 1,740 troops with countless tanks.

Russia is sticking to the attrition battlefield technique; sending hordes of troops to wear out Ukrainian soldiers and ammo stock.

Despite this, Nato's top commander doesn't believe Vlad has sent enough troops to make any significant breakthrough.

General Christopher Cavoli said on Thursday he doesn't think they have the "numbers", "skill" or "capability" to exploit any kind of advantage there.

Ukraine's allies are also rallying round to ship more supplies and ammunition into the hands of the armies in need.

Cavoli confirmed that ammunition, short-range air defence systems and "significant amounts" of armoured vehicles are on their way.

The news comes after footage showed Ukraine blitzing a row of five Russian tanks from above as they tried to push further into Kharkiv.