Izium hit by guided bombs: 27 injured, one dead, city without power; Chuhuiv and Nikopol also shelled

Izium: four aerial bombs on the city

On the morning of 2 November Russian forces struck Izium in Kharkiv region with guided aerial bombs. According to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, four FAB-500 bombs fitted with UMPK glide-and-correction kits were dropped on the city.

Initial reports spoke of one person killed and 15 injured. In the evening the regional National Police department said the number of injured had risen to 27, among them an 11-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. The man who was killed has not yet been identified.

Apartment blocks, private houses and shops were damaged and cars caught fire. The city military administration said Izium was completely without electricity after high-voltage lines were damaged. Investigators opened a criminal case under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (violation of the laws and customs of war).

Chuhuiv: drones hit a garage and a street

Chuhuiv was also attacked the same day. According to the regional prosecutor’s office, at about 10:45 Russian forces hit a car service station with two drones, preliminarily identified as Geran-2. Around 10 minutes later another drone struck the road near a shop, injuring five women.

Chuhuiv mayor Halyna Minaieva said residents kept seeking medical help throughout the day and the total number of injured rose to seven. In the targeted neighbourhood windows and balcony glazing were damaged in about 100 flats and a dozen private houses.

Nikopol: two children wounded

In Dnipropetrovsk region Russian artillery shelled Nikopol during the day. Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said two brothers were injured: a 4-year-old boy was taken to hospital, while his 10-year-old brother was treated on site and will recover at home. A private house was damaged.

Overnight, Hanzha said, Russian forces attacked the Nikopol district almost 30 times with drones and artillery, wounding one person.

Context: Izium

Izium is a town on the Siverskyi Donets river in south-eastern Kharkiv region and an important transport hub. Russian forces occupied it in spring 2022, and it was liberated in September 2022 during Ukraine’s Kharkiv counteroffensive. After the liberation, a mass burial site with more than four hundred graves, including those of civilians, was found in a forest near Izium. The town has been rebuilding since then, but it remains within reach of Russian aviation and drones.

Why it matters

Frontline and border towns in Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions are hit daily by aerial bombs, drones and artillery. Russia uses heavy FAB-500 bombs with UMPK kits against towns within reach of its aviation, and each strike destroys several buildings at once along with infrastructure, such as the power lines in Izium.

What residents should do

Local authorities urge people not to ignore air raid alerts and to use shelters, especially in frontline communities. Casualty and damage figures for Izium may still be updated: rescuers and police are still inspecting the impact sites, and power engineers will work to restore electricity as soon as the security situation allows.