At least 15 people, including three children, have been killed after Russian forces struck the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with five glide bombs, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and emergency services.
The attack hit residential buildings in the southeastern city on Saturday morning, leaving at least 16 people injured. Several others were reported missing, with rescue teams searching through rubble for survivors. Acting Mayor Regina Kharchenko said one strike destroyed much of an apartment block after its lower floors were hit, causing the floors above to collapse.
More than 80 emergency workers were involved in search and rescue operations, which were expected to continue throughout the day. Rescuers periodically stopped work to listen for sounds from people who might still be trapped beneath the debris. Kharchenko described the attack as a strike against the city’s heart, expressing particular grief over the deaths of children.
Zelensky said Russian forces had also attacked 13 other Ukrainian regions overnight. He warned that Ukraine would respond to the latest strikes. “Russia interprets any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly continue the war,” Zelensky wrote on X, arguing that Moscow must face greater consequences to end the conflict.
Zelensky Criticises Trump’s Russian Diesel Deal
The latest attack came hours after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the United States, according to the supplied report. Zelensky strongly criticised the arrangement, describing it as a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin and arguing that it amounted to an investment in a war that should be brought to an end.
The Ukrainian president has repeatedly called for stronger pressure on Moscow, warning that easing restrictions could encourage further military action. Zaporizhzhia, a major regional centre with more than 700,000 residents, lies approximately 16 kilometres from the front line. The city has frequently come under Russian drone and missile attacks.
The supplied report cited another glide bomb attack on civilian buses in Kramatorsk on Thursday, which reportedly killed at least 33 people. It also reported that a Russian missile struck an apartment block in Pryluky the previous day, killing 22 people, including five children.
According to the United Nations figures cited in the report, civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 55 per cent during the first eight months of the year.
Search and rescue operations in Zaporizhzhia continued as authorities worked to locate missing residents and establish the full extent of the damage.
