Kyiv, March 4 : The Russian military is “intentionally” trying to eliminate Ukrainian people, said Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov on Friday. “The situation is extremely difficult. To date, Kharkiv has been hard impacted by continuous bombardment. Planes are flying constantly, (rockets) are being launched, grenades are launched, and residential houses are being hit,” Terekhov said in an interview with CNN. He further said that as there are no Ukrainian troops stationed in the residential areas, “that means that they are purposefully hitting the residential buildings”. “A great number” of civilians have been killed, he added. According to the state emergency services’ data on Thursday, 34 civilians were killed in 24 hours and 285 injured. Meanwhile, Russia on Thursday denied presence of any Russian troop in the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine. “There are no Russian troops in Kharkiv,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. RNJ