Ukrainian firefighters put out a fire following a raid in Zaporizhia
The Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia was subjected to a missile attack, which resulted in the death of at least one person and several injuries.
The district governor said a woman was killed and at least seven people were injured, including a three-year-old child.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged that Russia be punished for its missile attacks.
Kuleba noted that seven Russian missiles hit civilians who were “sleeping peacefully in their homes” during the night, adding that more missiles landed during the day.
“The Russians continue to deliberately hit civilians to instill fear. Russian terrorism must be stopped – by force of arms, sanctions and complete isolation,” he said on Twitter.
Later, several explosions were heard in the area.
Close to the front line, Zaporizhia is the capital of a region of the same name that Russia has illegally declared.
Other non-military sites across Ukraine were bombed, including power stations, transmission lines, and apartment buildings.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is retaliating for recent setbacks on the battlefield.
The regional governor of the city of Zaporizhia, Oleksandr Staruch, announced that two people were killed in rocket attacks early this morning.
“A woman died, and another died in an ambulance,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
But he later amended that and said one person was killed, indicating that the second person’s life had been saved.
“There are at least five people under the rubble of buildings, and many have been rescued, including a three-year-old girl, who is currently being cared for. Rescue operations are currently underway at the scene,” he added.
Staruch wrote earlier that the missiles hit apartment buildings before dawn, causing fires and “significant destruction”.
Staruch urged people to show “maximum caution”, saying there was a “high possibility of repeated missile attacks”.
what happend today?
- The governor of the city of Zaporozhye Oleksandr Starukh said that seven missiles hit apartment buildings before dawn.
- Staruch initially stated that two people were killed in the first attack, but later modified that and said one person was killed, indicating that the second person’s life had been saved.
- Rescuers are working to pull people who are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
- A second attack occurred shortly therefollowing – the BBC’s Paul Adams said at least three more explosions took place in the city centre.
- An eyewitness to the first attack told the BBC that she had elderly relatives in one of the buildings that had been bombed, and said there was “very little hope that they were alive”.
Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye under Russian missile attack
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to achieve “stability” in four Ukrainian regions, which he declared illegally annexed.
Moscow does not control all of the territory in these four regions, and has lost territory in certain areas – vowing to take back whatever land it loses.
Ukrainian forces are advancing in the south and east.
Serhiy Hayday, the regional governor of Luhansk, told the BBC on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured six villages in the area.
President Zelensky later said that his forces had recaptured three more villages in the Kherson region.
The Ukrainian counterattack also succeeded in retaking the strategic city of Lyman.