At least seven people were killed and a further 17 injured in attacks by the Russian army in the Kharkiv area in eastern Ukraine, the regional Ukrainian commander Oleh Syniehubov said on Thursday, according to a report by the newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda. “The enemy is firing at Kharkiv in a cowardly manner,” he said. Syniehubov called on people, not to go out unless necessary and to seek the safety bunkers in the event of an air raid alarm. He said that heavy fighting was going on in the region and that Russia was suffering many casualties. These claims could not be independently verified.