Russian night strikes in Ukraine: four dead in Zaporizhia and Kryvyi Rig

Nighttime Russian strikes left four dead, two in Zaporizhia (south) and two at an ArcelorMittal factory in Kryvyi Rig (center), local authorities and the company said on Saturday. “ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rig indicates that our factory was hit by a missile from the aggressor country last night,” the company of the global steel giant said in a statement on Telegram.

“The body of another person killed in the attack has been found,” she said later, bringing the death toll to two. “We emphasize that our factory is a civilian facility of the mining and metallurgical industry, and we strongly condemn these insidious enemy attacks,” the company also said, reporting damage to auxiliary and production facilities.

Russia increases strikes affecting civilians

Four and a half years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia is increasing its missile and drone strikes, targeting numerous civilian infrastructures, at the cost of a growing number of victims. Two people also died in a nighttime strike on Zaporizhia, in the south of the country, which destroyed a house, according to local authorities.

“It was absolute terror,” Lioudmila, 56, a resident of the city, told AFP. In the southern Black Sea port city of Odessa, Russian missile and drone strikes hit apartment buildings, destroying entire floors and wounding 35 people, including a five-month-old baby, according to regional governor Oleg Kiper.

kyiv has also intensified its long-range strikes on Russian territories, particularly targeting refineries and logistics warehouses. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on his American counterpart Donald Trump to adopt “severe” sanctions against Russia “right now” in order to hamper its ability to produce missiles. Diplomatic efforts under American mediation to end the conflict have so far led to no concrete results.