On Saturday, Oct. 17, around 02:00, a coordinated Russian attack against the Ukrainian towns of Zaporizhya and Kryvoriyi was made using ballistic and cruise missiles. The town was completely hit, and residential areas were destroyed; an industrial facility was hit and several civilian casualties resulted.

The alerts for air raids were sounded throughout Kyiv and in the majority of regions of the Government of Ukraine around 4:45 a.m. In less than a minute, the alarm rang and military radars found ballistic, drone and cruise missiles (Kalibr) from the Black Sea.

The strikes were delivered on an open space, surrounded by apartment buildings in Zaporizhya. Regional defence officials in the region, working under the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated that the blasts had caused serious damage to three complexes of apartments and started several cars belonging to civilians.

The State Service for the protection of the population from emergency situations (SEO) promptly reached the spot and suppressed fires and gave emergency medical aid. As early as morning, five people in Zaporizhya have been confirmed dead, including a child.

In the meantime, there were joint attacks on the town of Kryvyi Rih with the use of the drones, cruise missiles, ballistic weapons. Local defense officials confirmed that the strikes targeted a local industrial plant and authorities are trying to determine the extent of damage and casualties at the plant.

Such recent bombardments are part of a steady increase in violence, which is being monitored by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. Russian forces struck Zaporizhya on Friday (October 15) about a week ago, ramming through a private company and setting it ablaze, and also attacked a five-storey residential house on October 10.