Death toll in Russia’s Oct. 6 attack on Zaporizhzhia rises to 18

According to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh, bodies of 18 people, including a child, were found under the rubble of residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier, the State Emergency Service said that 21 people were rescued from under the rubble, and 12 were hospitalized following Russian attacks with Iran-made Shahed-136 drones that damaged two residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

The rescue operation is almost over, Starukh said. 

Russia has intensified attacks on the city after claiming to have annexed Zaporizhzhia Oblast, along with three other partially occupied Ukrainian regions. Unlike in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts, Zaporizhzhia is the only regional capital claimed to have been annexed that remains under Ukrainian control.