Russian Missiles and Drones Set Zaporizhzhia Ablaze, Wounding Nine Near Nuclear Plant

A Russian missile and drone barrage set an office building ablaze and ripped through residential neighborhoods in central Zaporizhzhia on June 26, injuring at least nine people and renewing alarm over the safety of the nearby nuclear power plant.

Regional officials said the assault involved at least two ballistic missiles and several attack drones aimed at the heart of the southern Ukrainian city. The strikes damaged warehouses, homes and parked vehicles and ignited a major fire as rescue teams combed the debris for anyone trapped. Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said the number of wounded had risen to nine women, ranging in age from 21 to 86.

Firefighters battled the blaze into the night as paramedics treated the injured and emergency crews evacuated casualties from the affected area. Images from the scene showed a multistory building engulfed in flames and plumes of black smoke rising over the city skyline.

Zaporizhzhia sits close to the front line and has endured repeated Russian missile and drone attacks since Moscow's full-scale invasion began in 2022. But the latest strike drew particular concern because of the city's proximity to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — Europe's largest — which has been a recurring flashpoint throughout the war. International monitors have repeatedly warned that fighting near the facility risks a catastrophic accident.

The attack came as the broader war intensified. Russia has escalated its long-range bombardment of Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, including a massive overnight assault on Kyiv and other cities that killed at least 22 people, even as Ukraine launched some of its heaviest drone strikes of the conflict deep inside Russian territory. The tit-for-tat escalation has dimmed hopes for a negotiated pause in the fighting.

The strike on Zaporizhzhia fits a pattern in which Russia has increasingly targeted urban centers far from the contact line, a strategy Ukrainian and Western officials describe as an effort to terrorize civilians and break morale. The U.N. human rights office has documented thousands of civilian deaths since the invasion began, with the real toll believed to be far higher. Aid groups warn that each fresh barrage pushes more residents to flee, straining shelters and services in safer regions to the west.

Ukrainian officials renewed their appeals for additional Western air-defense systems, arguing that interceptors are the only reliable shield against the ballistic missiles that increasingly slip through to hit civilian targets. As the war grinds through its fourth year, residents of Zaporizhzhia once again spent the night sheltering from explosions, surveying shattered glass and scorched facades at dawn — a now-familiar ritual in a city that has refused to empty out despite the danger.