The aftermath of the attack on the Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: The Zaporizhzhia region military administration
An overnight Russian drone and artillery barrage in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region left 30 people wounded, the Ukrainian police reported on Telegram on Friday.
According to Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov, Russian armed forces attacked the region with 349 drones, 231 artillery and air strikes, and nine rocket-launch system attacks, targeting some 16 different localities throughout the region. Six people were still receiving hospital care, he said in a subsequent post.
While the extensive strikes caused no fatalities, they damaged high-rise buildings, apartments, private houses, non-residential buildings and educational institutions, including a train-repair company, Fedorov reported.
The strikes come after the United States and Ukraine signed a long-awaited minerals deal on Wednesday, with hopes in Kyiv that the signing would strengthen Ukraine’s hand in negotiations with Russia as a ceasefire and an end to the war look ever more elusive and US exasperation grows.
In a statement, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal signalled to Russia that the US was committed to a “peace process centred on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term”.
Moscow appears in no rush to end the onslaught against Ukrainian cities. On Monday, Putin declared a three-day truce in honour of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II later this month, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted with cynicism as he wondered why the offer could not be extended to at least 30 days.
