- 7 Killed, 22 Injured in Zaporizhzhia Missile Strike
- Ukraine Pleads for Air Defense Systems
- IAEA Condemns Drone Attack on Nuclear Plant Convoy
A devastating Russian missile attack has struck Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, claiming the lives of at least seven people and injuring 22 others, including a child. The assault, which targeted a private clinic and residential buildings in the city center, may have left up to five people trapped under the rubble, according to local police.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with two women pulled from the wreckage overnight and currently receiving hospital treatment. Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov condemned the attack, stating that Russia fired a ballistic missile, likely an Iskander. Russia’s defense ministry has yet to comment on the incident.
Fedorov expressed his condolences to the victims’ families, vowing that Russia would be held accountable for “every Ukrainian life taken and mutilated.” He emphatically declared, “We will not forgive!”
In response to the tragedy, a day of mourning has been declared in the Zaporizhzhia region for Wednesday. The attack has also reignited Ukraine’s plea for advanced air defense systems from its Western allies to counter the near-daily Russian missile and drone attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated this request, stating, “We don’t have enough systems to protect our country from Russian missiles. But our partners have these systems. Again and again, we repeat that air defense systems should save lives, not gather dust in warehouses.”
In a separate incident, Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of launching a drone attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). The IAEA reported that one of its cars was severely damaged, but fortunately, no injuries were sustained.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi denounced the attack as “unacceptable,” emphasizing the agency’s efforts to prevent a nuclear accident during the ongoing military conflict. Russia seized the ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, shortly after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Zaporizhzhia is one of four south-eastern regions that Russia claims to have annexed since 2022, although it does not fully control any of them. In 2014, Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula.
