Officials said that Russian forces launched "double tap" rocket attacks on Saturday against a small village near Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv. Two people were killed, including an official from the emergency services and a policeman.

Officials reported that two people were also killed in Russian airstrikes on Donetsk, a region located to the southeast.

The prosecutors said that the missile attack in the afternoon targeted the Budy railway station, southwest of Kharkiv. A second missile was launched after rescue teams had arrived.

The incident left 23 people injured.

Ihor Klymenko, the Interior Minister, said that the chief of emergency services in Kharkiv was also killed along with a policeman from a rapid response unit. Three emergency workers, one policeman and around 20 civilians were among the injured.

Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians. The "double tap" tactics used by Russian forces has had a devastating impact.

Kharkiv was not in Russian hands during the initial advance by the Kremlin forces following the February 2022 invasion.

Since then, the city and its surrounding areas have been constantly attacked. However, Ukrainian officials claim that this has decreased since U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine were resumed following a hiatus of several months.

Vadym Filashkin, the governor of Donetsk region, said that multiple rocket launchers attacked a multi-storey building in Chasiv Yar – a town Russian forces targeted as a staging point for moving through Ukraine’s east.

A guided bomb also killed one person in the area of Kurakhove. This is where the most intense fighting takes place along the 600-mile front. (Reporting and editing by Nick Zieminski, Oleksander Kozohukhar)