Death Toll Rises to 12 After Russian Guided Bomb Attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia

Kyiv: A Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Saturday morning, October 10, has killed at least 12 people, including three children, according to Ukrainian regional authorities. Rescuers continue to search for residents trapped under the rubble.

Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said the strikes hit several locations in the city at the same time in the early hours of Saturday. Ukraine’s Air Force had reported at around 5:00 a.m. that Russian tactical aircraft were launching guided aerial bombs towards Zaporizhzhia. One of the bombs hit a five-storey residential building.

The death toll rose steadily through the morning as emergency crews cleared debris. Authorities initially reported seven people killed and ten wounded. By later in the morning, the confirmed toll had reached 12 dead and 14 wounded, two of whom remain in critical condition. Officials said the fate of around 12 other residents was still unknown.

At least 26 residential buildings were damaged in the attack, including 23 apartment blocks and three private houses in the city’s Shevchenkivskyi and Voznesenivskyi districts. Rescue teams and police units have been deployed to the strike sites to clear rubble, put out fires and search for survivors.

The attack is part of a wider escalation in Russian strikes across Ukraine. More than 55 people were reported killed in the four days before Saturday’s attack, as Ukraine prepares for another winter of strikes on its power and heating infrastructure.

Russia had not commented on the attack or its intended targets at the time of reporting.