Russian strike kills 3 in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia

KYIV: A Russian strike today killed three people and wounded 11 others in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the local governor said.

Southern Ukraine has seen intensified strikes this autumn, reinforcing fears of a new Russian offensive in the area.

“Three people were killed,” said governor Ivan Fedorov, adding that “rescuers are searching for people under the rubble of a clinic destroyed by a Russian missile”.

Speaking in a video message on social media with ambulance lights flashing in the background, Fedorov said the strike hit a private medical clinic in the centre of the city.

“The number of wounded as a result of the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia has increased to 11,” Fedorov posted shortly after, adding that two medics were among the injured.

Zaporizhzhia is one of the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, without fully controlling it.

In mid-November, the Ukrainian army warned Russia was building up infantry and armoured vehicles while stepping up aerial bombardments ahead of planned attacks along Ukraine’s southern front.

Escalated fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region would pose a significant threat to Ukrainian forces, which are losing ground in the eastern Donetsk region and in the Russian border region of Kursk.