Every new Russian shelling of Kharkiv results in thousands of broken windows and damage, says Kharkiv’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, UkrInform reports. 

“Currently, the need for windows exceeds 50,000. Every strike increases this number by another thousand, one and a half, two. The record was more than five thousand in one attack,” the mayor reveals.

Municipal services promptly seal off the building envelopes to preserve heat and ensure residents’ safety. Some construction materials are provided by charitable organizations, but, according to Terekhov, the volumes are significantly less than in previous years of the war.

“We are receiving very little now from the funds. The assistance is shrinking, probably due to a lack of financial resources. And it’s not getting easier for us,” the mayor continues.

Volunteers actively help municipal workers eliminate the consequences of the strikes, especially in hard-to-reach buildings.

For example, in a 24-story building in the Saltivka district damaged during the night shelling on 12 June, construction materials had to be carried up manually because the elevators were without power.

The mayor also emphasizes that after each attack, Kharkiv residents unite and support the municipal and emergency services. He recalls an incident when, during a morning shelling on Hymnaziyna Embankment, a local resident brought sandwiches to workers clearing the damage.

War intensifies amid Russia’s summer offensive. Ukraine has spotted a massive redeployment of Russian self-propelled artillery and air defense systems to Sumy Oblast. 

Ukrainian forces have recorded a large-scale transfer of Russian military equipment from Crimea and Kherson towards Sumy Oblast. According to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Occupation Studies Center, this is the largest movement of weaponry in the past six months.

“More than 10 self-propelled artillery systems, air defense systems, and convoys of over 40 trucks carrying ammunition and personnel,” Andriushchenko says.

The equipment is being loaded onto trains and sent to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, effectively heading to Sumy. The Russians are now stationed approximately 25-30 km from it. If they reach the city’s border, they will use artillery to strike it. 

Special attention is drawn to the military equipment markings, which, with their dominant tactical symbol of a triangle within a triangle, indicate reinforcement of this specific direction.

Amid this buildup, Sumy faces heavy drone attacks. Konotop mayor Artem Semenikhin stated that on 8 June, the region endured the most powerful drone assault since the war began: “The entire sky over the region turned red with targets.”

“Open your eyes!” World heavyweight boxing champion from Ukraine, Oleksandr Usyk, has called on US President Donald Trump to come to Ukraine and live in his home to see firsthand the realities of war and Russian shelling, CNN Sports reports. 

“I offer him my home. Let him live in my house for a week and see how rockets fly over it and how people live in Ukraine,” says Usyk. 

According to the boxer, Trump must be responsible for his words, and finally fulfill his promise to end the war in Ukraine, as he had said he would stop the war within a day or a month.

“He should be responsible for the words he said. Why does he speak?” the boxer adds, stressing that the US president needs to “open his eyes and help.”

Usyk also advises Trump to live in the Kyiv districts of Obolon or Troieshchyna, “where houses, residential buildings are being bombed,” to “understand what is happening.”

This is not the first call by prominent figures for Trump to visit Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly invited Trump to visit the frontline and see the war with his own eyes. However, the American leader has yet to come to the country.

Russians are advancing — after a breakthrough in the region, Sumy may come under direct fire.
On the border of Sumy Oblast, Russian occupiers have intensified their offensive and advanced 6–7 kilometers deep into Ukrainian territory.

Russia does not intend to stop at creating a so-called “buffer zone,” adds Shevtsov. Its goal is the full occupation of Sumy Oblast, as well as Kharkiv Oblast and other regions in eastern Ukraine.

According to Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), about 50,000 Russian troops have been concentrated in Kursk Oblast near the Russian border, UNIAN reports. 

The offensive is accompanied by intense shelling from drones, artillery, and aircraft using glide bombs and guided missiles.

All of this aims to complicate the defense of Ukrainian positions and push even deeper.

“The situation is not easy — in fact, it’s difficult. The Russians are sending infantry groups toward Yunakivka and Khotin. If earlier we observed activity in the areas of Basivka and Zhuravka, now the zone has expanded,” Demchenko says.

So far, heavy armored vehicles have not been used. Instead, Russia is deploying infantry, including units on quad bikes and motorcycles, to quickly break into Ukrainian territory.

The invaders are trying to entrench themselves in forest belts and hideouts while awaiting reinforcements.

“We must pay tribute to our soldiers, who are bravely holding the defense and destroying dozens of invaders every day… But unfortunately, the enemy does not care about its losses — some die, others keep coming,” the military spokesperson emphasizes. 

According to Demchenko, the occupiers’ goal is to gradually expand the combat zone and move closer to strategically important logistical hubs to increase pressure on Ukraine’s defense forces.