ZAPORIZHZHIA, Jan 9: A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 people, Ukrainian officials said, one of the deadliest single air attacks for weeks in the three-year war.
Moscow has ramped up its strikes on Ukraine since the onset of winter, casting some of the attacks as retaliation for Kyiv firing on Russian territory with Western-supplied weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Wednesday's bombardment "cruel" and called for the world to rally around Ukraine, and against Russia, to bring about a "lasting peace".
He posted video footage showing several people lying wounded on the streets, covered with debris, and first responders hoisting victims onto makeshift stretchers.
The strike came hours after Ukrainian drones hit an oil depot that supplies Russia's air force, hundreds of kilometres (miles) behind the front lines, triggering a blaze that claimed the lives of two Russian firefighters.
"The Russians conducted two strikes with guided aerial bombs on the city of Zaporizhzhia. They exploded among crowds of people," Ukraine's interior ministry said in a statement.
Thirteen people were killed and at least 30 wounded in the attack, Zelensky said, accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians.
"There is nothing more cruel than launching aerial bombs on a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer," he said in a message on social media. —AFP
