Russian shelling hit a densely populated area of ​​Ukraine’s second-largest city on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding at least 23 others in a barrage that hit a mosque, a medical facility and a shopping district, officials and witnesses said. Police in the northeastern city of Kharkiv said cluster bombs hit the Barabashovo market, where Associated Press reporters saw a woman crying over the body of her dead husband. Local officials said the shelling also hit a bus stop, a gym and a residential building. The bombing came after Russia reiterated its plans to seize territory beyond eastern Ukraine, where the Russian military has spent months trying to capture Ukraine’s Donbas region, which lies south of Kharkiv. The Russian statement came Wednesday after Ukrainian officials floated plans to try to retake Russian-held areas near the country’s southern Black Sea coast. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attacks early Thursday targeted one of the most populous areas of the city, which had a population of about 1.4 million before the war. “The Russian army is randomly bombing Kharkiv, peaceful residential areas, civilians are being killed,” Terekhov said. In the market, Sabina Pogorelets’ desperate screams pierced the air as she begged Ukrainian police to let her hug her husband, Adam, whose body lay partially covered in a cloth next to a small stall. A bloody wound was visible on his head as officers gently pulled his wife away so medics could take his body. “Please! I have to hold his hand!” Pogorelets cried. Nearby, a man hugged his young daughter as he and other visitors stood in shock. Emergency crews treated at least two of the injured in nearby ambulances. “People started working slowly, they came out to sell things and residents came here to buy things,” said Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the National Police in the Kharkiv region. “And that very place was hit by Uragan rockets with cluster bombs to maximize human damage.” The claim of cluster bombs could not be independently confirmed. AP reporters at the scene saw burned cars and a bus riddled with shrapnel. Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said four people were in serious condition and a child was among those injured in the shelling. Russian forces also bombed wheat fields, setting them on fire, he said. Elsewhere, Russian forces shelled the southern city of Mykolaiv overnight as well as the eastern cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, where two schools were destroyed, Ukrainian officials said. A man’s body has been pulled from the rubble of the school in Kramatorsk, and emergency officials say two more people are trapped under the rubble. The scattered attacks illustrate broader war aims beyond Russia’s previously stated focus on the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of the Donbass region, which pro-Moscow separatists have partially controlled since 2014. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state-run RT television and RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday that Russia intends to maintain control over more territory, including Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in southern Ukraine. Moscow’s current strategy also foresees gains elsewhere, Lavrov said. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said the current Russian offensive on Donetsk could lead to the capture of the cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut. But they noted that “Russian troops are now struggling to move in relatively sparsely populated and open terrain. They will encounter terrain much more favorable for the Ukrainian defenders.” Ukraine’s military said Thursday that Russian forces attempted to storm the Vuhlehirska power plant in the Donetsk region, but said “Ukrainian defenders made the enemy flee.” Ukrainian forces on Wednesday struck a key bridge over the Dnieper River for the second time in as many days, apparently trying to loosen Russia’s grip on the southern Kherson region. “Russia is prioritizing the seizure of critical national infrastructure, such as power stations,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday. “However, it is also likely attempting to break into Vuhlehirska as part of its efforts to regain momentum on the southern prong of its advance towards the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.” Fighting is also continuing in the Luhansk region, next to Donetsk, Governor Serhi Haidai said. In other developments on Thursday:

The operator of a major pipeline from Russia to Europe says natural gas has started flowing again after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance. However, gas flow was expected to fall short of full capacity and the outlook was uncertain. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany had been closed since July 11 for annual maintenance. The pipeline is Germany’s main source of Russian gas. German officials feared the pipeline might not reopen at all amid rising tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator says Russian forces have planted explosives and weapons in parts of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant where they pose a significant risk. Energoatom said on Thursday that heavy weapons and explosives were located in the building that houses one of the six reactors at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. “They continue to cynically violate absolutely all fire, nuclear and radiological safety rules and requirements,” the statement said. Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow will consider boosting gas supplies to Hungary following an official request from Budapest. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke after a meeting in Moscow on Thursday with Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijártó. Russian news agencies report that Szijjarto sought to get an additional 700 million cubic meters of natural gas from Russia this year. Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has joined Western sanctions against Russia but insisted on opting out of the EU’s oil embargo. Swiss technology, industrial products and robotics company ABB has announced that it is withdrawing from the Russian market due to the war in Ukraine and related sanctions. The Zurich-based company, which has two manufacturing plants and about 750 people in Russia, took a second-quarter hit of $57 million because of the situation.

Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.