Russian strike on southeastern Ukrainian city kills at least 13
KYIV – A Russian bomb strike killed at least 13 people Wednesday in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, marking the deadliest single attack on a Ukrainian city in months.
Local officials said 18 others, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in the bombing that hit a residential building and an industrial facility. Authorities never disclose whether military facilities are targeted in attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media that “there is nothing more cruel than bombing a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer.”
Zelenskyy and President-elect Donald Trump have said they hope to end the war in 2025, nearly three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. As Ukraine’s forces on the eastern battlefield have struggled to hold back Russian advances, Moscow’s daily aerial bombardment of Ukraine’s cities has persisted.
Though Russia has relied more on drone strikes in recent months, heavy guided bombs are an especially menacing threat for areas closer to the front line and the Russian border.
They typically weigh at least half a ton, and their old, heavy iron construction makes them difficult to intercept by air defense missiles.
“Ending such a war with a reliable peace is only possible through force,” Zelenskyy said in his statement, reiterating his long-standing calls for more support.
The Biden administration is poised to announce an additional $500 million in weaponry donations to Ukraine, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
The announcement of the latest shipment from U.S. stockpiles was expected as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin prepares to host a meeting in Germany of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a forum he established after the 2022 invasion to organize allied military contributions to Ukraine.
Thursday’s gathering will mark the last such meeting that Austin will host before he steps down at the end of the Biden administration.
Before finalizing the $500 million package expected to be announced later Wednesday, the Biden administration had $4.35 billion in remaining congressional authorization for U.S. weapons donations to Ukraine, meaning the Trump administration will have more than $3 billion it could use to supply Kyiv’s fight.
Ukrainian border cities such as Sumy and Kharkiv, as well as Zaporizhzhia, which borders Ukraine’s occupied southern land, have been particularly hard hit by Russian glide bombs. With Ukraine severely lacking air defense weapons, Russia has also used the guided bombs effectively to hammer Ukrainian military positions along the front line.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed this week to have captured the eastern Ukrainian industrial town of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region after months of intense fighting. Ukraine’s military denied that Kurakhove has been totally occupied, but open-source analysts tracking Russia’s advance have said Moscow’s forces have established positions inside the town, which could be a gateway to surrounding eastern and southern areas.
With both Ukraine and Russia bracing for potential peace talks after Trump’s inauguration, their militaries kicked off dueling offensives in Russia’s western Kursk region this week, though neither side appeared to make significant gains. Ukrainian officials have said their hold on the small chunk of Russian land could be a powerful bargaining chip in future negotiations.