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← Latest editionRussian bombs kill 20 in Zaporizhzhia residential strike
Guided aerial bombs hit residential parts of the Ukrainian city before dawn. Three children were among the dead, and rescue work continued into the evening.
- Ukrainian officials reported 20 people killed and 32 injured by late Saturday.
- Three children were among the dead.
- A five-storey apartment block was destroyed and another building’s entrance partly collapsed.
- The city declared Sunday a day of mourning.
The bombs hit Zaporizhzhia at about 4.48am on Saturday, while residents were asleep. By 9.25pm, regional official Ivan Fedorov was reporting 20 dead and 32 injured, according to Ukrinform. The toll had risen during the day as rescuers searched the rubble; the State Emergency Service had earlier reported 20 deaths and 18 injuries.1
Three children were among those killed, according to the regional administration. It said a direct hit destroyed a five-storey apartment building and part of an entrance to another block collapsed.2
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said five guided aerial bombs were used. That is the ministry’s account; the reports reviewed did not identify a specific bomb model through forensic examination.3
Local journalists reported seeing rescue crews search the wreckage with dogs and call for quiet to listen for survivors. A woman was pulled alive from a ruined building after more than eight hours beneath the rubble, the ministry said.34 Local outlet ZaBor reported damage to at least 26 residential buildings in two city districts; that figure describes damaged buildings, not confirmed direct hits.5
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy linked the attack to the previous day’s announcement of an arrangement concerning Russian diesel sanctions. That was his political characterisation: the timing is established, but the reporting does not establish that the announcement caused the strike.6
The city declared Sunday, 11 October, a day of mourning.1