At least 12 people have been killed in overnight Russian missile attacks in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Ukrainian officials, in the latest attack that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “absolute evil”.
Zelenskyy and regional official Oleksandr Starukh provided a death toll of 12, with the latter saying that more victims may be under the rubble as a search and rescue operation was launched.
“Zaporizhzhia again. Merciless strikes on peaceful people again. On residential buildings, just in the middle of the night,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram of Sunday’s attack, adding that 49 people including six children were in hospital.
“Absolute meanness. Absolute evil. Savages and terrorists. From the one who gave this order to everyone who fulfilled this order. They will bear responsibility. For sure. Before the law and before people.”
Earlier, Anatoliy Kurtev, secretary of Zaporizhzhia city council, said 17 were killed in missiles attacks. “After night missile attack on Zaporizhzhia, at least 20 houses and about 50 multi-storey buildings were damaged,’ he wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the casualty figures.
The attack came after an explosion on Saturday caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia, damaging an important supply artery for the Kremlin’s faltering war effort in southern Ukraine and hitting a symbol of Russian power in the region.
Ukrainian officials said the overnight shelling targeted houses and apartment buildings in the southern city, which has been at the receiving end of Russian attacks in recent weeks.
At least 14 people died in a Russian missile attack on apartment buildings in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday, while 30 people were killed last week when a convoy of civilian cars was shelled in an attack blamed on Russia.
The region is one of the 4 regions of Ukraine the Kremlin claims to have annexed following a hugely controversial and widely condemned referendum earlier in September.
Related posts:
1 dead, 16 injured after Russian missile strikes Zaporizhzhia hotel
Kyiv Comes Under Renewed Russian Missile Attack
Video show Russian Military vehicles at Zaporizhzhia
Russian allied separatists reject claimed Zaporizhzhia withdrawal
Ukraine Claims Breach Of Russian Defensive Lines Near Zaporizhzhia
G7 holds crisis talks on Russian missile attacks
Russian missile strikes police building in Ukraine
Ukraine strikes Russian missile carrier, patrol ship in drone attacks
