Russian attack kills 12, including three children, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia

Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Twelve people, including three children, were killed and 14 others wounded in a Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday. The attack came a day after US President Donald Trump announced a deal to lift sanctions on Russian diesel, a major setback for Kyiv.

Residential buildings struck

Local governor Mykhailo Semikin said Russia struck several locations simultaneously in the early hours of Saturday.

A six-year-old girl was among those killed when a strike reduced part of an apartment block to rubble. After rescuers recovered her body, her grandfather, Anatoliy Chumniy, stood sobbing over it as it lay on the ground in a white bag.

“Her birthday would have been at the end of the month,” Chumniy said through tears.

Rescuers climbed through crumbled masonry to pull other residents from the building alive. One man, whose leg was trapped in the rubble, screamed in pain as he was freed.

Zelenskiy criticises sanctions relief

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy linked the attack to the announced sanctions relief in some of his sharpest criticism yet of the White House.

“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” he said.

“Last night became yet another confirmation that Russia perceives any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly keep fighting, that it can supposedly keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed,” Zelenskiy said.

Recent high-casualty attacks

The bombardment was the latest in a series of recent high-casualty strikes across Ukraine. Nearly 80 civilians were killed in Russian strikes over two days earlier this week.

Zaporizhzhia is an industrial city whose outskirts lie less than 30 km (20 miles) from the frontline. It had a pre-war population of more than 700,000 and has been a regular target of Russian bombardment, with strikes intensifying in recent months.