ISTANBUL

Ukraine said on Wednesday that at least two people were killed and 12 others injured by Russian airstrikes in the country’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

“According to preliminary data, two people were killed, 12 people were injured, among them – according to confirmed information – at least two children,” said a statement by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service on Telegram.

The statement said the attack took place Wednesday morning and struck the grounds of a recreation center situated in one of the region’s settlements.

Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said separately on Telegram that at least four strikes were reported in a central area using high-explosive aerial bombs.

“There is zero military sense in this strike – just cruelty aimed at instilling fear,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X on the attack.

He reported that Russian attacks also struck power grids in the Dnipropetrovsk region and a gas facility in the settlement of Novosilske in the country’s southwestern Odesa region.

“Hundreds of families were left without gas. This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season – absolutely cynical, like every Russian strike on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy further said, reaffirming his call for more pressure on Moscow to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine.

The attack in the Odesa region targeted a gas compressor station in Novosilske – situated near the country's border with Romania – according to Ukraine's Energy Ministry.

"This compressor station was involved in the route that connects Greek LNG terminals with Ukrainian gas storage facilities via the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, and along which LNG from the United States and test volumes of Azerbaijani gas were already being delivered," it added.

The attack comes as US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of Trump’s Friday deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.

In June, Trump gave Russia a 50-day window, after which he threatened to impose import duties of up to 100% on Russia and its trading partners unless Moscow and Kyiv reach an agreement.

On July 29, Trump announced that he had decided to reduce that deadline to 10 days over his "disappointment" with Putin.

Ukraine’s Air Force claimed on Telegram that the country’s air defenses had shot down 36 out of 45 Russian drones launched overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that its forces damaged “gas transportation system facilities that ensure the operation of enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” as well as warehouses storing long-range drones and temporary deployment points, over the past day.