KYIV: Three people were killed and six others injured when a Russian missile hit a five-story apartment building in a city in southeastern Ukraine on Thursday, police said, as the war entered its second year.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said several floors of the building were destroyed in the strike, which took place while it was still dark.
The National Emergency Service said in an online statement that it had saved 11 people so far.
Zaporizhia is a large city of more than 700,000 inhabitants before Russia invaded its neighbor on a large scale just over a year ago. It is the administrative capital of the partially occupied Zaporizhia region, which is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Russian artillery, drones and missiles have besieged Ukrainian-controlled areas in the south and east of the country for months. Moscow denies targeting civilian targets, but its indiscriminate firing has wreaked havoc in urban centers.
The war largely slowed to a lingering stalemate during the winter months.
Zelenskyy said Russia wants to “turn every day into a day of terror for our people”. He added: “But evil will not reign in our land.”
Meanwhile, a fierce battle raged for control of Bakhmut, a key stronghold in the east where Ukrainian officials say they could make a strategic retreat.
from Ukraine General staff reported that the Russian troops “continue to advance and storm the city”, but the Kiev troops repelled some attacks on the devastated city. Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Thursday morning that one person had been injured in Bakhmut.
Bakhmut was among the towns and villages in the Donetsk region that came under Russian shelling, according to the General Staff update.
Taking the city could not only provide Russian forces with a rare battlefield gain after months of setbacks, but could also sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to advance on other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said several floors of the building were destroyed in the strike, which took place while it was still dark.
The National Emergency Service said in an online statement that it had saved 11 people so far.
Zaporizhia is a large city of more than 700,000 inhabitants before Russia invaded its neighbor on a large scale just over a year ago. It is the administrative capital of the partially occupied Zaporizhia region, which is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Russian artillery, drones and missiles have besieged Ukrainian-controlled areas in the south and east of the country for months. Moscow denies targeting civilian targets, but its indiscriminate firing has wreaked havoc in urban centers.
The war largely slowed to a lingering stalemate during the winter months.
Zelenskyy said Russia wants to “turn every day into a day of terror for our people”. He added: “But evil will not reign in our land.”
Meanwhile, a fierce battle raged for control of Bakhmut, a key stronghold in the east where Ukrainian officials say they could make a strategic retreat.
from Ukraine General staff reported that the Russian troops “continue to advance and storm the city”, but the Kiev troops repelled some attacks on the devastated city. Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Thursday morning that one person had been injured in Bakhmut.
Bakhmut was among the towns and villages in the Donetsk region that came under Russian shelling, according to the General Staff update.
Taking the city could not only provide Russian forces with a rare battlefield gain after months of setbacks, but could also sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to advance on other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.
