Rockets kill civilians in Kharkiv as Moscow ‘adapts its tactics’

At least seven people have been killed and 44 injured after Russian forces launched multiple rocket strikes on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in what appeared to mark a change in tactics by Moscow towards bombing civilian areas.

Video showed dozens of Grad missiles raining down on the centre of Ukraine's second biggest city, landing among residential buildings. One resident described the attack as "horrendous" and the worst yet, following five days of remorseless bombardment and Russia's invasion.

The attack came despite a call between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Vladimir Putin in which, according to the Elysée palace, the Russian president had said he was "willing to commit" to ending attacks on civilians and civil infrastructure while peace talks in Belarus were under way.

Gruesome video footage showed the aftermath of one strike on the city's central Klochkivska Street. A Grad missile landed outside number 197, blowing the leg off a woman who had gone shopping during a break in the curfew. She died soon afterwards.

"My brother's colleague lives in the street. She saw what happened and heard the sound of the rocket. When she looked out from her balcony she saw the woman lying in agony, her leg blown off and to one side," Artem Volodymyrovich, a 31-year-old English teacher, said.

The colleague - who declined to be named - took a photo from her balcony. It shows a patch of blood and the motor part of a Grad missile sticking out of the concrete pavement. A few stunned onlookers were taking pictures on their phones.

Other video footage filmed on Monday shows a series of Russian missiles pulverising the centre of Kharkiv, apparently fired by a multiple rocket launcher system (MRLA). Flames, smoke and dust rise in a line into the sky.