A Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has killed 20 people, including three children, and wounded 18 others, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to criticise US President Donald Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports.
The attack occurred on Saturday, a day after Trump announced the decision, which his administration said was aimed at curbing rising fuel prices amid the US conflict with Iran.
Zelenskiy accused Moscow of responding to the easing of sanctions by intensifying its attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“Today, Russia said thank you for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” he said.
A six-year-old girl was among those killed when a Russian strike destroyed part of an apartment building. Rescue workers searched through the rubble for survivors, pulling residents from the damaged structure.
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Mykhailo Semikin, a senior Zaporizhzhia official, said Russian forces had struck several locations simultaneously in the early hours of Saturday.
The attack was the third mass-casualty incident in Ukraine this week. Nearly 80 civilians were killed in Russian strikes on Wednesday and Thursday, including at least 30 in the eastern city of Kramatorsk and 22 in Pryluky, east of Kyiv.
Zelenskiy said the latest bombardment showed that easing pressure on Russia could encourage further attacks.
“Last night provided yet more confirmation that Russia perceives any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly keep fighting, that it can supposedly keep dropping bombs on cities. Different signals are needed,” he said.
Meanwhile, a missile strike on a restaurant in Kyiv on Saturday wounded seven people, while Russian drones flew over the capital throughout the day in an intense bombardment.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its drones had struck a data-processing centre in Kyiv and a cargo ship carrying military supplies to the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Parts of Kyiv and the surrounding region were also left without electricity, forcing the city’s metro services to halt for the second time in a week.
Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports came as his administration sought to contain fuel prices, which have risen sharply amid the conflict with Iran.
Ukraine had urged Washington to increase pressure on Moscow to compel it to engage in serious negotiations to end the war. Trump, however, has criticised Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, which he says have contributed to rising global energy prices.
The latest strikes followed talks in Miami on Friday between Ukrainian and European officials and US negotiators aimed at developing a common proposal to end the war.
Trump announced the diesel deal while the discussions were under way, a move Zelenskiy said had taken Kyiv by surprise.
The Ukrainian delegation was returning home on Saturday, presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn was quoted as saying by the Interfax Ukraine news agency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a telephone conversation with Trump that an immediate resumption of peace talks was unlikely, citing Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow.
US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could visit Moscow within the next two weeks, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing a source.
