At least twelve people, including three minors, have lost their lives in the early hours of this Saturday in a bombing attack carried out by the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. The impact has hit a five-story residential block, according to the authorities of the region.
"Unfortunately, the death of twelve people has been confirmed, including three children (...). Another 14 people have been injured and two of them are in critical condition. Doctors are fighting to save their lives," stated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a message posted on social media.
The Ukrainian leader has directly linked this bombing to the "lifting of sanctions on diesel exports." "Today Russia has expressed its gratitude for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by launching five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhia," he ironized. According to Zelensky, the attack has caused damage to several residential properties, as well as to infrastructure and railway facilities.
"What happened last night confirms once again that in Russia any relaxation of pressure is taken as a message that they can continue attacking, that they can keep dropping bombs on cities," lamented the president. Therefore, he demands "different signals," so that "Russia understands that it must stop the war," that "it feels losses," and he referred in this context to Ukrainian long-range attacks against targets located in Russian territory.
The interim head of the Provincial Military Administration, Mikhailo Semikin, has indicated that "rescue teams continue search efforts" in the affected area of Zaporizhia.
The attack occurred after, around 5:00 a.m. (local time), Ukrainian forces alerted that Russian tactical aircraft had dropped glide bombs on the city of Zaporizhia.
For now, the total extent of the material damage caused by this new bombing is not precisely known, which takes place just a day after another offensive with guided aerial bombs from the Russian Army against residential areas of Zaporizhia, in which at least one person died and seven others were injured, including a minor, as reported the day before by the newspaper 'The Kiev Independent' citing regional officials.