KIEV, April 28 - The high-profile mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, was badly wounded by a gunman, raising fears of further unrest in a Russian-speaking region that has seen less trouble of late than the neighboring provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes was shot in the back while out exercising, and doctors are battling to save his life, Reuters reported.