Russia pounds Kharkiv

Russian artillery strikes pounded Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv yesterday after Moscow announced it was expanding its war aims, even as Russian gas flows to Europe resumed through the Nord Stream pipeline.

The attacks on the eastern city -- scarred by weeks of Russian shelling -- came after 10 days of scheduled work ended on the Nord Stream gas pipeline that had spurred fears of a permanent cut-off.

Kharkiv's regional governor said two people were killed and 19 injured, four of whom were in a serious condition.

Three people were killed by strikes a day earlier in Kharkiv, where some semblance of normal life had returned in recent weeks after Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops from the city limits.

In Kramatorsk in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which has seen some of fiercest fighting, a school that Ukrainian officials said was being used as a food aid storage point was also struck.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 and the war has left thousands dead, forced millions to flee their homes and wrought havoc with the economy.

The central bank on Thursday said it was devaluing the Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, by 25 percent.

Meanwhile, the resumption of gas supplies from Russia to Europe through Germany came a day after Europe unveiled emergency measures to circumvent Russian energy "blackmail".

In its latest package of penalties Wednesday, the European Union targeted gold exports and froze assets at Russia's largest bank Sberbank.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said that Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine would not cause it to change course.

In a call with reporters, Peskov said: "Even the harshest sanctions have never made countries change their position."

"It's working," a Nord Stream spokesman said yesterday, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered.

Western powers have stepped up arms supplies to Ukraine but President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked for more and speedier deliveries.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said Wednesday Washington would send four more M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars), which have notably boosted Kyiv's capabilities.

"Ukraine needs the firepower and the ammunition to withstand this barrage and to strike back," Austin told reporters, adding that the new shipment would bring the total of US Himars sent to Kyiv to 16.

Russia has warned about arms supplies and said it will no longer be focused only on wresting control of the east Ukraine regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, which have been partially controlled by pro-Moscow rebels for years.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have hit civilian targets in cities and towns far away from the frontline, leaving scores of civilians dead.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin yesterday said that Putin was in good health, dismissing what it called false reports he was unwell.

"Everything is fine with his health," Peskov said in reply to a question at his daily briefing.

"You know that Ukrainian information specialists, and American and British ones, have been throwing out various fakes about the state of the president's health in recent months - these are nothing but fakes," he added.

Putin coughed during a public appearance on Wednesday, when Interfax news agency quoted him as saying he had caught a slight cold during a visit to Iran the previous day.

International scrutiny of his health has intensified over recent months, including when he was photographed meeting foreign and Russian officials while seated at opposite ends of long tables as a precaution against Covid. At times he has also appeared to walk stiffly.