Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia kill at least two and wound 18 as wider drone and glide-bomb barrage hits Ukraine

Russian forces launched a large-scale attack early Tuesday on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least two people and injuring at least 18, regional officials said, and sparking multiple fires that emergency crews fought through the morning.

Ivan Fedorov, governor of Zaporizhzhia region, said a 41-year-old man was among the dead in the city and that two children were among those injured. He said preliminary reports indicated Russian forces carried out 10 strikes from multiple rocket-launch systems that damaged 10 apartment buildings and 12 private homes, and that emergency services had reported a fire covering about 350 square metres across three residential buildings and a service station.

Eyewitnesses described sudden, powerful explosions. "I heard some distant explosions, very far away, so we went to sleep. And then there was a super strong explosion which blew out our windows," said Oleksii, 35, a Zaporizhzhia resident. "I immediately went outside and ran to my neighbors to extinguish the fire. I was so worried about them."

Photographs and regional statements showed firefighters working at damaged residential buildings and a service station. Another image from the strike zone showed a truck burning amid the rubble of a strike on a street in Zaporizhzhia.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the strikes were part of a broader overnight assault that deployed more than 100 drones and about 150 glide bombs against targets across central, southern and eastern Ukraine. He reported further casualties outside Zaporizhzhia, saying one person was killed in the southern Mykolaiv region and two people were injured in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to regional officials.

Authorities in the Kyiv region reported that a large retail logistics centre was hit during the attacks, producing thick columns of smoke as firefighters battled the blaze. Zelenskiy said the scale and frequency of such strikes underscored Ukraine’s call for a coordinated, multi-layered European air-defence system. "This is precisely the kind of aerial terror against which Ukraine is calling for joint defense… Now is the time to implement the joint protection of our European skies with a multi-layered air defense system," he wrote on the X platform.

Zelenskiy also provided a broader tally for the month, saying Russian forces had launched more than 3,500 drones of various types, nearly 190 missiles and more than 2,500 aerial bombs so far this month.

Regional emergency services and local authorities in Zaporizhzhia reported continued response operations, including firefighting and clearing of damaged structures. Preliminary damage assessments cited by the governor said approximately a dozen apartment buildings and a similar number of private homes sustained damage; officials urged residents to follow safety guidance and avoid unsecured areas near strike sites.

There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities. Ukrainian rescue and municipal services continued operations to extinguish fires and attend to the wounded, and local officials said investigations into the full extent of damage and casualties were ongoing.