Russians kill one and injure three people in attacks on Kupiansk and Vovchanski Khutory in the Kharkiv Oblast

Russian forces attacked the city of Kupiansk and the village of Vovchanski Khutory in the Kharkiv Oblast on May 31, 2025, killing one woman and injuring three people, according to Oleh Syniehubov, Head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.

Russians used a first-person-view drone to attack residents working in the garden in Vovchanski Khutory. A 47-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man were injured in the strike, with varied degrees of severity. They were hospitalised.

Apart from this, a 63-year-old woman was killed in a Russian strike on Kupiansk. Another local resident, a 65-year-old man, suffered an acute stress reaction.

Earlier today, the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration reported that Russian forces attacked Kharkiv Oblast with guided aerial bombs (GABs) on the morning of May 31, injuring seven people.

Russia hit the premises of a civilian business with a GAB in the village of Vasyshcheve, damaging buildings. Two people were injured. Russian forces damaged a house in Bezliudivka, and the attack injured a person.

According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, there was severe damage to residential and administrative buildings and fires on the territory of a company in Vasyshcheve and Bezliudivka.

By way of background, Russian forces launched a large-scale drone attack on the Chuhuiv and Kharkiv districts on the night of May 27-28, hitting residential areas and a civilian business facility. More than 10 strikes have been recorded. One person has been killed and seven others injured.

“The attack killed one person and injured seven others, including a child. Three fires broke out,” Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported.

A production workshop and a warehouse covering 1,580 sq m caught fire on the premises of a business facility in the Vasyshcheve settlement.

Drones struck open land in the settlement of Bezliudivka, igniting dry grass over an area of 1,000 sq m.

A Russian UAV hit a two-storey residential building in the settlement of Eskhar, sparking another fire.

On May 25, they launched an airstrike with a FAB-500 aerial bomb on a house in the town of Kupiansk, killing two women and injuring three other people.

Syniehubov reported then that Russians killed two women aged 85 and 56. A 60-year-old man and two women aged 75 and 68 were injured. reports indicate that the strike was carried out using a FAB-500 aerial bomb.

Three civilians were injured in a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv Oblast on the night of May 13-14, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.

The Russians struck the village of Oleksandrivka in the Blyzniuky hromadaі of the Lozova District with Geran-2 drones. Residential buildings, a garage, a car and tractors have been damaged. Three civilians have been injured: two men aged 49 and 54 sustained wounds, while a 93-year-old woman suffered an acute stress reaction.

Additionally, Russians attacked the town of Valky in the Bohodukhiv District with a drone at around 00:05 am on May 14. A lorry parked on the roadside was hit. A vehicle and a fence near a house were damaged. No casualties were reported in that attack. Early reports indicate the Russians used a Lancet UAV.

One person was killed and one injured in Russian attacks targeting Kharkiv Oblast on the evening of May 1 and the night of May 1-2, according to the local authorities and the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigators established that day that a Geran-2 (Shahed-136) loitering munition hit the village of Mykolaivka Persha in the Lozova District at around 2:20 am on May 2. The attack damaged houses and destroyed an outbuilding. A 61-year-old woman suffered an acute stress reaction.

In a Russian airstrike on the village of Vilkhuvatka in the Kupiansk District at around 18:20 on May 1, the life of a 53-year-old woman was claimed. The Russians are reported to have used a FAB-250 aerial bomb for that specific attack.

On the morning of 18 April, a Russian ballistic missile carrying cluster munitions struck a high-rise building in the city of Kharkiv. As of 16:00 that day, one person was known to have been killed and 103 injured, 8 of whom are children.

Ukraine urges the international community to unite to restore global security under the UN Charter and strengthen sanctions against Russia to enforce compliance with international law. Following Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, Ukraine has pursued the liberation of its territories within its internationally recognised 1991 borders while developing comprehensive reintegration strategies and policies for all liberated areas.

Previously, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industrial workers continue to operate, many without international restrictions.

Previously, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that China has stopped selling drones to Kyiv and other European nations while continuing shipments to Russia.

“Chinese Mavic is open for Russians but is closed for Ukrainians,” Zelenskiy told a group of reporters on May 27. “There are production lines on Russian territory where there are Chinese representatives,” he added.

Bloomberg news agency noted that drones have become central to the war in Ukraine. Their ability to limit offensive manoeuvres has dramatically reshaped the tactics both sides employ on the frontline. They’ve also been increasingly used for long-range strikes far behind the frontlines.

Previously, the news outlet The Currency reported that Russian oil company Lukoil, which earned nearly €100 billion last year, is circumventing European Union sanctions through a cunning legal structure, via a subsidiary company registered in Ireland.

The company, Lukoil Capital Designated Activity Company, was established in September 2021, just a few months before the onset of the full-scale war in Ukraine. Its sole function is to issue bonds on international markets, raising billions of dollars for the needs of Russia’s Lukoil. The total amount of bonds issued through the Irish structure is $2.3 billion. These funds ultimately reach the parent company in Russia.

The Irish company is not under sanctions, as the EU has not formally banned Lukoil’s activities, unlike the USA and the United Kingdom. This allows the Russian giant to maintain access to Western capital markets even amidst international isolation.
The directors of Lukoil Capital are linked to Vantru – a corporate services provider in Northern Ireland. The same individuals also manage the Irish branch of a Moscow airport, which has also come under journalistic scrutiny.

In a comment to The Currency, Vantru founder Rory Mulvaney confirmed that his company works with Irish firms linked to Russia and considers it legal to collect funds from Russian businesses to make payments to Western investors, if these payments are not prohibited.