A Russian missile attack in southern Ukraine has killed at least 13 civilians, officials say

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A Russian missile attack in southern Ukraine has killed at least 13 civilians, officials say

2025-01-09 07:23 Last Updated At：07:31

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A daytime Russian missile attack on the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 13 civilians and wounded about 30 others on Wednesday, officials said.

Footage posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel shows civilians lying in a city street littered with debris. The post shows them being treated by emergency services and taken away on gurneys.

Russian has frequently launched aerial attacks on civilian areas during the almost three-year war. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Europe's biggest conflict since World War II.

Zelenskyy and regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said Wednesday's attack killed at least 13 civilians. Minutes before the attack, Fedorov had warned of a threat of high-speed missiles and devastating glide bombs being fired at the Zaporizhzhia region.

Russian troops started launching the glide bombs at Zaporizhzhia in the middle of the afternoon, and at least two bombs struck residential buildings in the city, Fedorov said.

He announced that Thursday would be a day of mourning in the region.

“There is nothing more brutal than aerial bombing of a city, knowing that ordinary civilians will suffer," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskyy said earlier Wednesday that countries wanting to end the war should offer Ukraine assurances about its future defense. Kyiv officials fear that any ceasefire or peace deal will just give the Kremlin time to rearm and invade again unless it is deterred by military force.

“To be honest, I believe that we have a right to demand serious security guarantees from … the countries that aim for the peace in the world,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy was responding at a news conference in Kyiv to comments the previous day by President-elect Donald Trump that he understood Russia’s opposition to neighboring Ukraine joining NATO.

The United States, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia have stood in the way of Ukraine immediately joining the 32-nation alliance, Zelenskyy noted. The alliance has said only that the country is on an “irreversible path” to membership.

Earlier, the Ukrainian military said it struck a fuel storage depot deep inside Russia, causing a huge blaze at the facility that supplies an important Russian air base.

Russian officials acknowledged a major drone attack in the area, and said that authorities had set up an emergency command center to fight the fire.

Ukraine’s General Staff said the assault hit the storage facility near Engels, in Russia’s Saratov region, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. The depot supplied a nearby airfield used by aircraft that launch missiles across the border into Ukraine, a statement on Facebook said.

Ukraine has been developing its arsenal of domestically produced long-range missiles and drones capable of reaching deep behind the front line as it faces restrictions on the range that its military can fire its Western-supplied missiles into Russia.

The attacks have disrupted Russian logistics in the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, and embarrassed the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy said last year that his country has developed a weapon that could hit a target 700 kilometers (400 miles) away. Some Ukrainian drone attacks have hit targets more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away.

The governor of the Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said that an unspecified industrial plant in Engels sustained damage from the falling drone debris that sparked a fire, but nobody was hurt.

Engels, which has a population of more than 220,000, is located on the left bank of the Volga River, and is home to multiple industrial plants. Saratov, a major industrial city of about 900,000, faces Engels across the river.

“The damage to the oil base creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian objects. To be continued,” the statement from Ukraine’s General Staff said.

Russian authorities restricted flights early Wednesday at the airports of Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Kazan and Nizhnekamsk, in an apparent response to the Ukrainian attack.

The main base of Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers is located just outside Engels. It has come under Ukrainian drone attacks since the early stages of the war, forcing the Russian military to relocate most of the bombers to other areas.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Photos capture how wildfires ravaged through Southern California.

2025-01-09 07:18 Last Updated At：07:23

Major wildfires around Los Angeles on Wednesday left an apocolyptic wake of destruction after strong winds ripped through the mountains and foothills.

Rows of cars at a dealership, blasted by flames, looked like they had been bombed. A man wearing a mask walked by debris of a neighborhood destroyed. A couple, arms around each other, looked at what was left of their smoldering home. A statue of a human, without a head, lay on a street.

It all began on Tuesday, when powerful winds took small fires and made them huge, with vivid orange flames liting the sky in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Firefighters and residents raced to stop the flames any way they could. One firefighter dragged a hose, dousing a smoking car. But in so many cases, the flames couldn't be stopped. One vehicle, a truck, was completely engulfed.

The fast-moving fires forced thousand of residents to evacuate. Authorities moved to get the most vulnerable out first, such as people in a senior center. Some people were brought out on hospital stretchers, others in wheelchairs. Nearly all were wearing masks, trying to protect themselves from oppressive smoke that was everywhere.

Amid the destruction, firefighters tried to save homes—or keep others from being chewed up. One firefighter jumped a fence while others, holding large hoses, pumped water. In many cases, nothing could be saved. At best, flames could be put out in hopes that it stopped embers from flying in the winds and igniting nearby homes.

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