Russia unleashes ‘River of Fire’ killing seven, including three children, in drone strike on gas station against Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv amid fears defenders are running out of Western ammunition to fend off Putin’s devastating attack

A Russian attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city overnight killed at least seven people, including three children, Kharkiv’s governor reported Saturday.

An Iranian-made Shahed drone struck a gas station and created a ‘river of fire’ that engulfed 15 houses in an unstoppable fire.

Among the victims was a family of five, including three children aged six months, four and seven, who were allegedly ‘burned alive’ inside their own home.

“They were held hostage by the fire inside their own house,” said chief investigator Serhiy Bolvinov.

The man’s body is in the corridor of the house, the mother and the children tried to save themselves in the bathroom. We don’t yet know where the baby’s body is. The search is underway.’

While the Ukrainian air force said it was able to destroy 21 out of 31 drones launched nationwide overnight, the destruction in Kharkiv comes amid fears defenders are running out of much-needed ammunition to repel air strikes.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, urged US lawmakers this week to approve a new aid package as her country faces a ‘critical shortage’ of military hardware.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Ms. Markarova pleaded with international backers to maintain their support for Ukraine as the war nears its second anniversary.

“We still have enough people who want to fight – there is no choice, actually for us, we are defending our home – but we are running out of equipment, especially missiles and interceptors,” she said. ‘We need this support yesterday.’

The US Senate voted Thursday to move forward with a bill that would grant $95 billion. USD in emergency aid to Ukraine to maintain its fierce resistance to Putin’s army.

“I was so happy to hear that it was a very strong bipartisan support, obviously not yet final, just the first step in the right direction,” commented Ms. Markarova. ‘There is no alternative to continuing this support.’

A spokesman for Ms Markarova told Newsweek that “due to a shortage of ammunition, the Ukrainian military is under increased pressure on the front line”.

‘Russia is pushing and trying to give Putin a “big win” before election day in March: occupation of another Ukrainian city in the east.’

Yaroslava Gres, co-ordinator of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s official fundraiser, UNITED24, told MailOnline today: ‘Air defense is a critical area. With daily threats from Russian airstrikes, Ukraine’s need for additional missile and air defense systems is paramount to protecting our cities. Protecting Ukrainian skies secures Ukraine’s future.

“Russia is stockpiling missiles and kamikaze drones to target critical civilian infrastructure in winter and continue to terrorize civilians. The better prepared we are, the more innocent lives will be saved.’

UNITED24 has set up a fundraiser for a Safe Skies target detection system, led by American historian Timothy Snyder.

The system ‘excels in detecting low-altitude air threats, an important part of the air defense strategy’ – but Ukraine estimates it would need 12,500 units to ‘adequately’ protect the territory.

So far, it’s raised $950,000 with the help of Snyder and fellow academics Francis Fukuyama, Rory Finnin, Timothy Garton Ash and Serhiy Plokhy — but it’s short of the $1,900,000 goal.

Tonight’s strike in Kharkiv highlights the urgency of such systems that would help Ukraine repel incoming attacks, locals say.

More than 50 people were rescued from the flames as they tore through a community in the Nemyshlyanskyi district.

Witness Andrii Kruglo said: ‘Everything exploded and started running like a river. A burning river. I was covered in diesel.

‘It ran down the street and set houses on fire.

‘We tried to put the fire out, put it out with our hands, with snow, as much as we could.’

‘We tried to put the fire out, put it out with our hands, with snow, as much as we could.’

Mayor Igor Terekhov said: ‘Enemy Shaheds (Iranian-made drones) hit a gas station, causing burning fuel to spill out and 14 private houses to burn.’

Regional prosecutor Oleksandr Filachkov said three drones were used in the attack.

‘As a result, an object of critical infrastructure was destroyed. There was a large amount of fuel, which is why the consequences of the fire were so terrible,’ he said.

Relatives have been asked for DNA to help identify the victims of the attack.

The attack followed an earlier attack on Zmiiv, when a hotel complex and surrounding buildings were destroyed.

Locals expressed fears that Ukraine is running out of air defenses and failing to deter Russian attacks, particularly in the eastern Kharkiv region.

A local source here said: ‘We were under attack by Russian drones (from Iran) and local social media chats exploded with messages that our area no longer has proper air defences.

‘Kharkiv and the region are desperate for at least one Patriot system. Apparently many drones were shot down from just basic machine guns.

‘We are protected by virtually nothing.’

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Colonel Yuriy Ignat warned: ‘There are a lot of statements from different countries, different representatives, and sometimes you get the impression that we have everything and a lot of it – but no, we don’t have everything and we have little.’

He said: ‘Germany has announced additional IRIS-T, we also expect Patriot.

‘We want more systems that have proven themselves on the battlefield as a means of combating ballistics.’

Josep Borell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said: ‘Mobilizing additional EU military equipment for Ukraine is my top priority.

‘We need to do more and we need to do it faster.’