At least 12 killed, dozens injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia city
At least 12 people were killed and around 50 injured, including six children, as a result of Russia’s shelling of the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
The aftermath of Russian missile strikes on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, October 9, 2022.Photo: EPA/Ukrainian Security Service via PAP
A high-rise residential building was partially destroyed, five other apartment buildings leveled and many more damaged in 12 Russian missile attacks, according to regional governor Oleksandr Starukh.
„There may be more people under the rubble,” Starukh said on the Telegram messaging app, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.
He added that a rescue operation was under way at the scene.
Officials earlier estimated that at least 17 people were killed when missiles hit a residential complex in the city some 50 kilometers from Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
The aftermath of a Russian missile attack on a residential building in the city of Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, on Sunday, October 9, 2022. Photo: EPA/Ukrainian Security Service via PAP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that those who ordered the strikes would be held responsible, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He said in a social media post: „Zaporizhzhia again. Merciless strikes on peaceful people again. On residential buildings, just in the middle of the night. It is already known about 12 dead. 49 victims are in the hospital, including 6 children.”
Zelensky added: „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.”
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska said on Twitter that „by killing civilians, Russia shows its weakness.”
She tweeted: „A residential building was destroyed by Russian shelling, private houses were also damaged. At least 12 people died, 50 were injured, including children. By killing civilians, Russia shows its weakness. There is no doubt.”
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on its Facebook page that „the Russian occupiers cynically struck the residential buildings and civil infrastructure.”
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Source: PAP, Reuters, ukrinform.net
