A new Russian rocket attack is reported from the city of Zaporizhia, according to preliminary information at least 17 people are killed. The next crisis occurs in the nuclear power plant of the same name.
At least 17 people have been killed in a nighttime Russian rocket attack on Zaporizhia. "As a result of a night rocket attack on Zaporizhia, houses and roads in a residential area of the city were damaged," writes Anatoly Kurtev, secretary of the city administration, on Telegram. "As of this writing, 17 people are known to have died."
At least 20 single-family houses and around 50 multi-storey apartment buildings were hit, a member of the city administration said in the online service Telegram. Four schools were damaged. Anton Gerashchenko, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said preliminary figures put 17 dead and 40 injured after the renewed attack on houses. "The Russians are unable to react on the battlefield and are therefore attacking the cities in the rear," he said.
Zelenskyy himself wrote on Telegram: "Again Zaporizhia. Again merciless attacks on peaceful people. On residential buildings, in the middle of the night." The city had already been fired at with rockets on Thursday morning. At least 17 people were also killed. According to official information, at least one child was among the recovered dead.
The city of Zaporizhia, controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, is located in the region of the same name, which is also where the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located. Moscow had declared the region annexed, although it is not fully under the control of Russian troops. By decree, Russian President Vladimir Putin also placed the nuclear power plant under Russian administration on Wednesday.
On Saturday, the nuclear power plant was again cut off from the external power supply, which is important for cooling the fuel rods. The Ukrainian power plant operator Enerhoatom announced that early on Saturday morning the last remaining main power line had been damaged and interrupted "due to renewed shelling by Russian troops". The nuclear power plant, which was shut down weeks ago, is completely without electricity, which means that diesel generators have started up automatically. The diesel reserves were sufficient for ten days of such an emergency operation, it was said. The power lines need to be repaired.
