20 killed in Russian shelling in Kharkiv region

Russian forces have retreated from much of the Kharkiv region after a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive last month but continued to shell the area.

A regional official in Ukraine says Russian forces have shelled a civilian evacuation convoy in the country's northeast, killing 20 people.

Kharkiv region Gov. Oleh Syniehubov called Saturday's attack on people who were trying to flee the area to avoid being shelled “сruelty that can’t be justified.”

He said the convoy was struck in the Kupiansky district.

Russian forces have retreated from much of the Kharkiv region after a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive last month but continued to shell the area.

The bombardment intensified drastically this week, as Moscow moved to annex four Ukrainian regions in the east and the south under its full or partial control.

Earlier, Ukraine’s nuclear power provider said that Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory in a sharp escalation of the war.

The alleged kidnapping comes at a pivotal moment in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war. Facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin this week heightened threats of nuclear force and used his most aggressive, anti-Western rhetoric to date.