Southern Ukraine has seen intensified strikes in recent weeks, reinforcing fears of a new Russian offensive.
“A rescue operation is currently underway in Zaporizhzhia following a brutal Russian missile strike,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
National Police said the “death toll has risen to four”, while 19 people were wounded, including a 5-year-old child, after a Russian missile “hit a private clinic in the centre of Zaporizhzhia”. Eight people may still be trapped under the rubble, police said.
Separately, the IAEA nuclear agency, which monitors the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – under the control of Russian troops – said one of their cars was damaged by a drone.
“A drone hit and severely damaged an official vehicle of the IAEA on the road to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant today,” the UN organisation said on X, posting an image of the armoured vehicle. IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said no one was injured but condemned the attack.
Update 20241211
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Rescuers were working Wednesday to find people under the rubble of a building destroyed in a Russian attack the day before that killed eight people, Ukrainian officials said.