Ukrainian officials say many killed and more wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv

Why Kharkiv, a city known for its poets, has become a key battleground in Ukraine

Ukrainian officials gave conflicting reports about the number of fatalities.

Oleh Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, said Monday that “dozens are dying” and that at least 11 people were confirmed dead.

He called the attacks in three areas of the city “a war crime.”

“The Russian enemy is shelling entire residential areas of Kharkiv, where there is no critical infrastructure, where there are no positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that the Russians could aim at,” he said in a message on Telegram.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said earlier Monday that the exact number of casualties remains unknown but that at least 15 Ukrainian fighters and 16 civilians have been wounded.

Authorities issued a curfew for the city beginning Monday afternoon.

Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people about 25 miles from the border with Russia, has emerged as a major linchpin in Russian efforts to push beyond the east and on to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

The Washington Post verified videos posted Monday of explosions in a northeastern Kharkiv neighborhood. The attacks came as Russian and Ukrainian delegations held talks by Ukraine’s border with Belarus, a key Russian ally.

In two clips that were verified, flashes of light appear in rapid succession as columns of smoke rise from the ground. A woman observing the barrage is heard crying in the background of one of the videos.

The Washington Post has not yet identified the type of munition used in the strikes. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and open-source group Bellingcat have identified the use of cluster munitions, which disperse submunitions or bomblets, in Ukraine over the past couple of days.

Russian bombardments of Kharkiv started to accelerate Saturday evening. After days of fighting largely around Kharkiv, Russian forces briefly took the city Sunday, but they were repelled hours later by Ukrainian fighters.

“Ukrainian forces have put up a pretty strong fight … but the worst is yet to come,” Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at CNA, a Virginia-based nonprofit research and analysis organization, told The Washington Post on Sunday. “Russian forces haven’t [yet] tried to take Kharkiv, not seriously.”

He warned that after facing unexpectedly strong Ukrainian resistance, Russia was likely to increase its aerial campaign against Kharkiv, a densely packed city.

Berger, Ajaka and Cahlan reported from Washington. Joyce Lee in Washington contributed to this report.