Three people were killed on Tuesday in the latest bombings in the city of Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city, according to information released by local authorities.

According to the same sources, 16 more people were injured in the attacks.

Authorities in the region have warned the public to stay in shelters and bunkers as the bombing has intensified in the last hours.

Yesterday, nine more deaths were recorded as a result of attacks in Kharkov.

By Monday night, the Ukrainian government had already confirmed the start of a major Russian offensive in the east with the aim of controlling the entire Donbas region from a wide column 480 kilometers wide.

In parallel, the siege of Mariupol, the strategic city in southern Ukraine, continues, where Moscow forces have repeatedly demanded that the neighboring country’s army surrender rather than resist the Azovstal steelworks and an unspecified number of civilians.