A Russian strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya killed at least eight people, including three children, and wounded 16 on October 10, local authorities said, as Russia launched a large-scale overnight drone attack across Ukraine.
Ivan Fedorov, the co-chair of the Zaporizhzhya Regional Defense Council who reported the latest casualty figures, said that “the fate of another 12 people remains unknown” and “search and rescue operations are ongoing.”
Ukrainian authorities shared images of what they said was the aftermath of the attack, including badly damaged residential buildings.
The State Emergency Service said a Russian aerial bomb destroyed an entire entrance section of an apartment building and damaged other buildings and private homes. Rescuers extinguished a fire and continued searching through the rubble for possible survivors, it said.
Among the wounded were a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy, according to the emergency service.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 160 attack drones against the country overnight, including 110 jet-powered Shahed drones.
By 9 a.m. local time, Ukrainian air defenses had shot down or suppressed 117 drones, including 82 jet-powered drones, the Air Force said. Hits were recorded at 14 locations, while falling debris was reported at 10 others.
The attack was ongoing, with several Russian drones still in Ukrainian airspace, the Air Force said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said on October 10 that Russian forces had destroyed a bulk carrier at sea that it claimed was transporting military cargo for Ukraine’s armed forces to the port of Odesa.
The ministry did not provide further details about the vessel or the circumstances of the strike.
The claims cannot not be independently verified.
The latest attacks came as US President Donald Trump’s announced on October 9 that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to temporarily ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports, with hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel expected to reach global markets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the move, calling it a “gift” to Putin and warning that allowing Russia to earn more from fuel exports could help sustain its war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US, Ukrainian, and European officials held talks in Miami on October 9 in a renewed diplomatic effort to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
US envoy Steve Witkoff described the discussions as constructive, saying they covered ways to de-escalate the conflict before winter, energy resilience, grain exports, security guarantees, and Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction. The talks ended without a breakthrough.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, despite extensive evidence of Russian strikes on residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and energy facilities across Ukraine.
