Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 23, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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A Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia killed one and injured 31, damaging energy facilities and affecting thousands. Ukraine's air defenses intercepted many threats.
By Serhiy Chalyi
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia unleashed a drone and missile strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing one, wounding 31 others and leaving tens of thousands without power or heat, officials said on Thursday.
The attack destroyed an energy facility and cut power to more than 20,000 residents and heat to some 17,000, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.
He said Russian forces struck the city with drones first, then with ballistic missiles during an air-raid alert lasting more than six hours.
Among the wounded was a two-month-old infant as well as rescuers who had responded to the first wave of the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on social media.
Early on Thursday, police and rescue workers combed through the rubble of a decimated apartment building and helped evacuate elderly residents. One building was destroyed and another 30 were damaged, Fedorov said.
A resident who was searching the gutted remains of his apartment described the attack.
"I flew off the couch to get dressed, and, running to the cabinet, I was covered in debris, after which I climbed out and heard my wife screaming," Serhiy, 35, said.
Zaporizhzhia, a strategic industrial city near front-line fighting, has come under frequent attack by Russian forces.
Kyiv's air force said Russia had fired four ballistic missiles at the city, part of a mass overnight attack on Ukraine that also included 92 drones.
Air defences shot down 57 and another 27 were "locationally lost", it added.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities behind the front line of its three-year-old invasion, targeting the country's weakened energy grid in particular.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Moscow's forces had attacked Ukraine's energy system 1,200 times since 2022.
New U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the conflict and Russian President Vladimir Putin is concerned about its impact on Russia's economy but Ukraine says Moscow's insistence on retaining conquered territory is a non-starter.
(Additional reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Kim Coghill and Philippa Fletcher)
The article discusses a Russian drone and missile strike on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, resulting in casualties and infrastructure damage.
The strike killed one person, injured 31 others, and disrupted power and heat for thousands of residents.
The attack destroyed an energy facility, cutting power to over 20,000 residents and heat to 17,000.
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