Dozens killed, hurt in Russian Zaporizhzhia strikes

Gulf Today Report

Dozens of people have been killed or injured in overnight shelling in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said on Sunday.

"Overnight, the Russian occupiers cynically struck the residential buildings and civil infrastructure," the military's central command said on its Facebook page.

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"Information about victims is being confirmed, but it is already known about dozens of dead or injured."

Earlier, city official Anatoliy Kurtev had said at least 17 people were killed in shelling when missiles hit a high-rise apartment complex and buildings.

Rescuers inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in the strikes in Zaporizhzhia.

The city is about 125 km (80 miles) from a Russian-held nuclear power plant that is Europe's largest. Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for shelling at the Ukrainian-operated facility, which has damaged buildings and threatens a catastrophic nuclear accident.

The city has been repeatedly struck in recent weeks and is in the Ukrainian controlled-part of a region that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in violation of international law last week.

City council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said the city was struck by rockets overnight, and that at least five private houses were destroyed and around 40 were damaged.

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 towering symbol of Russian power in the region.

Rescuers place the dead bodies at a site of a residential building.

Zaporizhzhia has been repeatedly hit in recent weeks and is in the Ukrainian controlled-part of a region that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in violation of international law last week.

A part of the region currently in Russian control is home to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest. It has repeatedly been imperiled by fighting, and lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling, the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday. It is now relying on emergency diesel generators.