Russian forces have struck a beach in Zaporizhzhia, wounding three children. Four people were hurt in the attack on the southern Ukrainian city, three of them children, and all are receiving medical care, head of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration Ivan Fedorov said.
The strike hit the oblast that Russia has been pressing toward for months. Zaporizhzhia, home to about 700,000 people, has no metro to shelter residents and sits with more than 70% of its oblast under Russian occupation.
The city has endured record-length air raid alerts, including one that ran eight uninterrupted hours, which Fedorov has described as Russia targeting civilian and energy infrastructure. Wednesday's attack came amid a drone threat across the region.
Strike hits beach in summer
Russian forces struck the beach on 24 June, Fedorov said.
"Four people were wounded, three of them children. Each is receiving medical care," he wrote on Telegram.
Cars and an eatery that was closed at the time were also damaged. The city is a regional center far from active ground fighting, yet it draws repeated Russian fire on civilian areas.
Strikes wound children repeatedly
Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia have hurt children before. A 26 February missile-and-drone barrage wounded an 8-year-old in the city, among at least 24 people injured across Ukraine that night, regional officials said.
An evening strike in February killed two teenagers and wounded several children, part of a recurring toll on the city's young.
Pressure builds on city
The Russian command has set an end-of-summer goal to get as close to Zaporizhzhia as possible, a spokesman for Ukraine's southern defense forces said this month.
Within artillery range, residents would have little time to reach shelter, a tactic Russia already uses against Kherson. For now, Ukrainian troops are holding Russian assaults near Stepnohirsk and Huliaipole, where dozens of clashes occur daily, the spokesperson said.
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