Six killed in Russian strike on Ukraine farm near Kharkiv

Six people were killed in a Russian strike on a farm in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on Thursday, Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said, after a wave of attacks across the country.

"In the morning, a drone struck an agricultural enterprise," he wrote on Telegram. Six people were killed, his spokesman told AFP, revising down an initial toll of seven given by Koretsky.

The emergency services also gave a toll of six.

The regional prosecutor's office said the farm in the Chuguiv district, southeast of Kharkiv, was hit as employees were sorting vegetables at a storage facility.

It published images showing the inside of a destroyed warehouse, where what appear to be piles of apples were scattered across the floor, with a gaping hole in the roof.

"Preliminary data indicate that the enemy used a small-sized cruise missile known as 'Banderol'," a statement read.

A Banderol is a low-cost hybrid weapon combining characteristics of a cruise missile and an attack drone. The Russian military has used them on a large scale, notably to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.

Moscow and Kyiv have intensified their strikes in recent months, increasing the number of civilian victims, more than 4.5 years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Civilian infrastructure such as logistics warehouses and energy sites, particularly oil-related and port sites, are regularly targeted.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday told the UN Security Council there would be no "pause" in the war and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky promised winter attacks on the Russian energy sector.