Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 20, including three children

Zaporizhzhia woke to devastation today after Russian strikes hit residential neighbourhoods, killing at least 20 people, including three children, according to regional authorities.

Ukrainian national police said Russia struck the southeastern city early this morning with “five guided aerial bombs”, damaging two apartment buildings.

The latest attack came just one day after Ukrainian and European officials gathered in Miami as part of a renewed diplomatic effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The toll from the air strikes on Zaporizhzhia continues to rise. At present, 11 civilians have been killed. Among them are three children,” said Mykhailo Semikin, head of Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration.

He said rescue crews were still searching for people believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Rescuers pull residents out from the rubble following a Russian attack that struck a five-storey residential building in Zaporizhzhia

An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that Ukrainian emergency teams were pulling survivors from the debris.

“We saw people under the rubble – a woman, her husband and a child,” said volunteer rescuer Daniil Pishkin.

He said two people were brought out alive, but added that “unfortunately there was a little girl who died”.

A resident of one of the damaged buildings, 69-year-old Iryna, said she had only moments to react after an air raid warning sounded, rushing to shelter in the toilets.

Rescuers free trapped family in Zaporizhzhia after Russian strikes

She said two of her neighbours did not survive.

“They were 75 years old. They were simply thrown out there, onto the street. They didn’t make it to the hospital,” she told AFP.

The Zaporizhzhia region lies only a few dozen kilometres from the front line, and the regional capital of the same name has repeatedly come under attack.

Rescue teams at the site of a Russian strike on a building in Zaporizhzhia

In recent months, Russia has stepped up strikes across Ukraine, a campaign that has driven civilian casualties higher.

US-mediated diplomatic efforts to end the war – now more than four years since Russia invaded Ukraine – have so far failed to produce results.

With neither side gaining a decisive breakthrough on the front line, Russia and Ukraine continue a long-range aerial battle more than four and a half years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

Ukraine has struggled to withstand the growing intensity of Russian bombardments, which have killed more than 58 people over the past four days.

Man narrowly escapes Russian drone strike near Kyiv

Against that backdrop, US, Ukrainian and European officials met in Miami yesterday to revive talks aimed at ending the conflict.

US envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X after the meeting that “constructive discussions” explored “potential avenues to de-escalate and conclude the war with Russia ahead of winter and advance efforts toward a durable and lasting peace.”

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Mr Witkoff said participants included “the E3, the European Commission, Ukraine and NATO.”

He said the agenda ranged from energy resilience and grain exports to security guarantees and “longer-term arrangements for Ukraine’s and Europe’s security to prevent future conflict,” Mr Witkoff said.

He also said the “productive” exchange addressed backing for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and economic prosperity, including EU accession.”

Mr Witkoff did not indicate whether the parties would meet today, as previously planned.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Thursday that the war had reached a potentially explosive impasse, saying the failure to secure a negotiated settlement was increasing the risk of further escalation.

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