Russian glide bomb attack on Zaporizhzhia kills at least 15 people
Children are among the victims, authorities say, and more victims could still be buried in the rubble of a large apartment block that was destroyed.
Russian glide bomb strike on Zaporizhzhia leaves at least 15 dead
Russia hit the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with five glide bombs, killing at least 15 people, including three children, President Volodymyr Zelensky and emergency services said.
The bombs struck residential buildings in the south-eastern city. At least 16 more people were wounded, while others were still missing and thought to be trapped under the rubble after the Saturday morning attack.
Zelensky said 13 other regions were also struck overnight, adding: "Our responses to [these] Russian strikes will come".
The Russian attacks came only hours after President Donald Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel into the US.
Photos and videos from the scene of one of the strikes show an apartment block that was largely destroyed.
"The ground floor was hit, and the floors above just collapsed," acting Mayor Regina Kharchenko told Ukrainian television from the site.
She said more than 80 workers were taking part in ongoing search and rescue efforts, which are expected to continue through the day.
Rescuers repeatedly pause to listen for any sounds from survivors who may still be beneath the debris.
Kharchenko said Russia had struck at "our very heart" and that "our littlest ones" were among the dead, adding that their deaths were "awful grief for their families. For the city."
Zelensky has strongly criticised Trump's diesel deal with Russia, describing it as a gift to President Vladimir Putin and "an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged".
More recently, in his reaction to the overnight strikes, he said "Russia interprets any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly continue the war.
"Russia must understand that the war needs to be stopped, and for that, it must feel its losses," he wrote on X
Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified attacks on infrastructure in recent months as the war between the two countries continues.
Zaporizhzhia is a major regional centre with more than 700,000 residents. It lies less than 10 miles (16 km) from the front line and is often attacked by Russian drones and missiles
The latest strikes on the city come amid a sharp rise in Russian attacks that are causing more civilian casualties.
On Thursday, at least 33 people were killed in another Russian glide bomb attack on two civilian buses in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region.
22 people including five children died when a Russian missile hit an apartment block in the town of Pryluky, east of Kyiv.
According to the UN, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine jumped by 55%
Russia has also targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure
, stepping up attacks every winter since Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
For its part, Ukraine has attacked Russia's infrastructure - with the latest being strikes on data centres owned by tech giant Yandex