Russian missile attack kills at least 13 in southern Ukraine
by VOA News · Voice of AmericaA Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 people Wednesday and injured dozens more, Ukrainian authorities reported.
The attack came minutes after regional Governor Ivan Fedorov warned that "high-speed missiles" and "glide bombs" were heading toward the Zaporizhzhia region.
Bodies of the victims and people injured in the attack were strewn across a road and adjacent paved areas next to damaged public transportation facilities. The debris hit a tram and a bus with passengers inside, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said.
High-rise apartment blocks, an industrial facility and other infrastructure were damaged in the attack. Emergency workers were trying to resuscitate a man while raging flames, smoke and burned cars could be seen in the background.
Russian troops used two guided bombs to hit a residential area, Fedorov told reporters. He said at least four of the injured were rushed to a hospital in serious condition. Fedorov said Thursday would be an official day of mourning.
Police officers inspect the bodies of residents killed at a public transportation stop during Russian air and missile strikes in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Jan. 8, 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, “There is nothing more cruel than launching aerial bombs on a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer."
As he often has, Zelenskyy urged Ukraine's Western allies to step up pressure on Russia.
Russia regularly carries out airstrikes on the Zaporizhzhia region, which its forces partially occupy. Moscow claims to have annexed the Ukrainian region along with four others, including Crimea, which it unilaterally seized in 2014.
Ukraine hits fuel depot
Earlier Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said it struck a fuel storage depot deep inside Russia near Engels in the Saratov region about 600 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border. The attack caused a huge fire at the facility, which supplies an important Russian air base.
Ukraine’s General Staff said, "The damage to the oil base creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian objects. To be continued."
Russian officials acknowledged a major drone attack in the area and said authorities had set up an emergency command center to fight the fire.
Ukraine's General Staff said the attack hit the depot that supplied a nearby airfield used by aircraft that launch missiles across the border into Ukraine, a statement on Facebook said.
Ukraine has been developing its own arsenal of domestically produced long-range missiles and drones capable of reaching deep behind the front line as it faces restrictions on the range that its military can fire its Western-supplied missiles into Russia.
Zelenskyy said last year that his country has developed a weapon that could hit a target 700 kilometers away. Some Ukrainian drone attacks have hit targets more than 1,000 kilometers away.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said any future deal to end the war in Ukraine would need to build into it deterrence to prevent Russia from once again attacking Ukraine.
Speaking in Paris, Blinken warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would try to use any ceasefire in Ukraine to refit Russian forces and eventually attack Ukraine again.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.