Russian forces fired missiles at Vilnyansk, a town outside the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, on Saturday, killing seven people, including two children, and wounding 18, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly called on allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and stronger air defenses to thwart what he says are near-daily attacks.
Ukraine's Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired at the town, damaging infrastructure, shops and homes.
Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said seven people were killed, including two children, and 18 were wounded, including four children. “Today the enemy committed another horrific terrorist act against civilians,” Zaporizhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted to the messaging app Telegram.
Fedorov said the attack “took place in the city center during daytime, on a holiday, when people were relaxing, and there were no military targets.”
President Zelenskiy posted photos from the scene showing a large crater, downed trees and two tarpaulins laid out on a park-like ground.
“Our cities and communities suffer daily from Russian aggression, but there is a way to overcome this,” Zelenskyy wrote in Telegram.
Zelensky said the way to protect the country from such attacks was to “destroy terrorists on the spot, destroy Russian missile launchers, strike them with real long-range strike capabilities, and increase the number of modern Ukrainian air defense systems.”
