<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Russian shelling on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv today killed at least four civilians, said the governor of the region facing a new Russian offensive.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Moscow launched an assault in the border region on May 10 after a surge in aerial strikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We know about four civilians killed. At least eight people are wounded,” governor Oleg Synegubov said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian forces had “attacked the area where local residents were resting”, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shelling hit the district of Malodanylivka in the northwest of Kharkiv city, the governor said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia’s assault has brought its biggest territorial gains in a year-and-a-half.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian troops advanced between 5km and 10km along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with AFP on Friday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shortly before the shelling was reported, Ukraine’s armed forces gave an update saying it had not detected “active operations in the Kharkiv sector”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian defence forces “are making every effort to strengthen their positions, replenish reserves, conduct reconnaissance and keep the enemy’s actions under fire control.”</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div>