As Russian missiles leave 4 dead in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine claims destroying 6 warplanes in Rostov

Ukraine Russia fired five missiles on Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Friday, killing at least four people, injuring 20 and damaging residential buildings and industrial facilities, the regional governor said.

In a tit-for-tat strike, Ukraine attacked Russia’s Morozovsk military air base in the Rostov region, destroying six Russian warplanes, a Kyiv intelligence source told Reuters on Friday.

Two journalists covering the aftermath of the Zaporizhzhia strikes were among those wounded in the city, which is near the frontline in the war with Russian forces.

Reuters TV footage showed reporters rushing to help colleagues lying injured on the ground before emergency crews arrived.

“What marks today’s strikes: first, there were two missile strikes, and then, about 40 minutes later, there were other strikes at the same place — just as rescuers, police started working,” Ivan Fedorov said on national TV.

The local prosecutor’s office said 20 people were wounded. They included a nine-year old boy. Four were in hospital in grave condition.

Fedorov said at least three apartment blocks, 10 private houses, shops and an unidentified industrial facility were damaged.

Reuters TV footage showed journalists scurrying down a residential street with explosions resounding behind them and clouds of black smoke rising.

They dropped their equipment to administer first aid to a prone female colleague with leg and arm wounds before an emergency crew arrived to take her away in an ambulance.

A second crew picked up another reporter with abdominal wounds and rushed down the street to a waiting ambulance.

Crews also encountered the body of a victim lying next to a pool of blood. At least two cars in the street were engulfed in flames.

Images shared by Fedorov and the interior ministry, captured shattered windows of a cafe and a small shop.

Ukraine’s air force issued a ballistic missile raid alert for the region, part of which is occupied by Russia.

Moscow has recently stepped up usage of ballistic missiles that are harder to intercept.

Northeastern Kharkiv region was also under intense air attack in the afternoon, according to local media and regional officials. There was no immediate reports of casualties.

Earlier, Russian officials accused Ukraine of attacking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is located southwest of the city of Zaporizhzhia and is occupied by Russian troops.

The Russian state-run RIA news agency quoted the facility press service as saying Ukrainian military drones attacked the power plant but caused no damage to its critical infrastructure.

Reuters could not independently verify the alleged incident.

In the past, each side in the two-year-old conflict has accused the other of shelling the plant, none of whose six reactors are operating. (Writing by Yuliia Dysa Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry, Ron Popeski and Sandra Maler)

Russian warplanes destroyed

The Ukrainian strike in Rostov was a joint operation conducted by the SBU security service and military, according to the Kyiv source.

Reuters could not independently verify the claim. The source did not say how the attack was conducted but that eight more warplanes had also been damaged.

Russia’s RIA news agency cited the Russian defense ministry earlier as saying Russian air defenses had downed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of them over the Rostov region.

The source said the Morozovsk air base was used by Russian tactical bombers like the Sukhoi Su-24 and Su-24M that Moscow’s air force uses to fire guided bombs at the Ukrainian military and frontline towns and cities.

The source later clarified that the planes used at the base were Su-27 and Su-34 aircraft.

The source described the operation as an important one.

Ukraine has significantly stepped up its drone attacks on targets in Russia in recent weeks, focusing on oil refineries in an effort to reduce Russian oil revenue.

A senior government official told Reuters earlier this year that Ukraine hoped to produce thousands of long-range drones in 2024, part of a priority defense program in its war with Russia.

Unable to rapidly produce long-range missiles and with limited access to those made by Western allies, Kyiv has focused on developing long-range uncrewed vehicles to strike back at Russia, which has used a sprawling arsenal of missiles and drones to bomb Ukraine.