Russian Strikes Kill at Least Seven in Zaporizhzhia, Including Three Children, Ukrainian Officials Say
Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on residential areas of Zaporizhzhia early Saturday killed at least seven people and wounded at least 10, with rescuers still searching the rubble and Kyiv reporting a higher toll as the long-range aerial war intensifies.
At least seven people were killed and 10 others were wounded when Russian strikes hit several locations in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early Saturday, the regional governor, Mykhailo Semikin, said, according to Reuters. Rescuers were searching the rubble for more people after the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a higher toll later Saturday. According to the Associated Press, Zelenskyy said at least 12 people were killed and at least 14 were wounded, and that three children were among the dead after aerial bombs struck residential buildings in the city. The differing figures had not been reconciled in the reports, and independent verification remains difficult during the fighting.
Strikes land a day after Washington’s diesel announcement
The attack came a day after President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Russia to supply diesel to the United States and global markets, a move Kyiv warned would help finance Moscow’s war. Zelenskyy argued that Moscow reads any easing of pressure as permission to “keep dropping bombs on cities,” according to the AP, and he called the diesel decision weak.
The AP reported that Trump said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel immediately, followed by 500,000 tons in November, another 1 million tons soon after, and an additional 3 million tons within a short period. This site has covered that announcement separately, and Ukrainian officials have criticized it as prolonging the war.
A long-range aerial war with a largely stalled front
According to the AP, Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting a long-range aerial campaign while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than four and a half years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The AP said escalating Russian bombardments have killed more than 60 people over the past four days, a pace Ukraine is struggling to counter.
Semikin said Saturday’s strikes hit several locations at once in the early hours, according to Reuters. Officials said search-and-rescue work was continuing, and the toll could change as crews reach people who may still be trapped.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters and the Associated Press.
