Zaporizhia, controlled by the Ukrainians, is located in the region of the same name, of which Moscow claimed the annexation without having full control.
SourceAFP
© MARINA MOISEYENKO / AFP
Published on
Link copied
Copy link
HASAt least one person has been killed and seven others injured following shelling on the city of Zaporizhia in southeastern Ukraine, local authorities said, blaming Russia. Zaporizhia, controlled by the Ukrainians, is located in the region of the same name, of which Moscow claimed the annexation although it does not have full control of it. It is about sixty kilometers northeast of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which the Russians have been occupying militarily since the beginning of March, and which Moscow and kyiv have accused each other of bombing for months.
In the city, Thursday’s strikes ripped open an entire section of a large apartment building, and rescuers were digging through the rubble by hand, looking for possible victims, journalists from Agence France-France reported. Hurry. White smoke still escaped from an imposing pile of rubble sprayed by the water hoses of the firefighters. “A woman died” and another “was saved” by doctors, said Ukrainian regional governor Oleksandre Staroukh on social networks. He had previously reported two people killed, in a first assessment. Seven people were injured, including a 3-year-old child, he added, indicating that the toll could still change.
Mutual accusations
According to the governor, seven strikes by Russian forces targeted “very tall buildings”. He then spoke in the middle of the morning of a “new attack”, but without giving more details. Last week, at least 30 people were killed in a strike on a column of civilian cars near the town of Zaporizhia, not far from a crossing point between the part of the region controlled by the Ukrainians and that occupied by the Russian army. Russians and Ukrainians accused each other of this bombardment.
READ ALSOWar in Ukraine: the great dilemma of refugees
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday finalized the annexation of four Ukrainian territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia), but the Kremlin has not yet confirmed which geographical areas of these regions will be annexed. He signed a decree during the day for Russia to formally appropriate the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, while the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, announced his departure for kyiv to discuss the “more urgent than ever” need for the establishment of a “protective zone” around this plant. The Ukrainian presidency also said Thursday that in the past 24 hours 14 people had been killed in attacks in the Donetsk region (east).
International newsletter
Every Tuesday, receive the best of international news, and receive exclusive previews from Le Point.
The editorial staff advises you