(CNN) — A round of missile strikes in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia killed 12 people early Sunday, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an official with the Office of the President of Ukraine.
At least 87 civilians, including 10 children, were injured in the attack, Oleksandr Starukh, head of the Zaporizhia regional military administration, said on Sunday.
The southern city was hit by six Russian cruise missiles and 16 S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, according to the Ukrainian air force. The cruise missiles were fired from Russian Tu-22M3 and Su-35 fighter jets inside Russian-controlled areas in the Zaporizhia region.
A rescuer stands in the rubble of a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, on October 9. (Stringer/Archyde.com)
Russia has repurposed S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to hit ground targets, hitting civilian infrastructure and residential neighborhoods in Zaporizhia early on Sunday.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Ukraine’s southern command claimed to have shot down a Russian warplane in the Mykolaiv region, as well as an Iranian-made drone near Odessa.
In a Telegram post on Sunday morning, Anatoly Kurtev, the city’s acting mayor, warned people in Zaporizhia to go to bomb shelters immediately.
The attack, which began around 7 p.m. local time, destroyed five houses and damaged apartment buildings and streets, Kurtev said on his official Telegram channel on Saturday.
Rescuers pull a person out of a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, on October 9. (Stringer/Archyde.com)
A bit of context: Zaporizhia is a major city in southern Ukraine, not far from the front line, and the site of a nuclear power plant that the international community watch carefully.
Part of the wider region is occupied by Russian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed measures this week to annex four Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhia, in violation of international law.