Russian attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia injures 26, governor says

By Sergiy Chalyi and Max Hunder

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Russian glide bomb attacks on apartment blocks in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region wounded 26 people, including a child, on Wednesday, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said, as thick black smoke could be seen billowing from charred buildings.

Fedorov wrote on Telegram that three strikes hit the regional capital and its outskirts, and two apartment blocks had been badly damaged.

“Once again, civilian areas – homes, schools and everyday spaces – have been deliberately targeted,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry wrote, warning that the number of casualties could rise further.

Residents, some covered in dust from the blast, stood and watched rescuers battle to extinguish the fire and clear rubble.

“All the walls collapsed,” said 70-year-old Valentyna Sumachova, describing how everything was suddenly enveloped in smoke and rescuers had to help her and her husband out of their apartment.

The city of Zaporizhzhia, whose southern edge is less than 25 km (15.5 miles) from the frontline, has been bombed regularly by Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s state emergencies service said work to clear the rubble was ongoing.

‘IS THIS PEACE?’

Kyiv is under pressure from the United States to agree to territorial concessions as part of a deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year war.

European leaders have shown some optimism this week about the progress of talks, but a deal remains elusive.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have pushed forward in the eastern part of the Zaporizhzhia region, as Ukraine’s stretched forces struggle to hold back their larger foe across a vast frontline.

Valerii Tereshchenko, a 20-year-old resident of one of the damaged blocks, pointed his bandaged finger towards a burning apartment, asking: “Is this peace?”

He said that the bomb had only narrowly missed his own home.

Meanwhile, a shaken Sumachova said she was ready for Ukraine to give up territory if it meant the fighting and killing would end.

“(The Russians) keep coming and destroy everything flat, kill people. Is territory worth people’s lives? No, it isn’t,” she said.

“I don’t want my children to die. I want them to live. I want my grandchildren to see future.”

(Reporting by Sergiy Chalyi in Zaporizhzhia, Yuliia Dysa and Max Hunder in Kyiv; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Sharon Singleton)