Russian glide bombs kill two in Zaporizhzhia, injure at least 15

Russian glide bombs killed two people and injured at least 15 more in Zaporizhzhia on June 30, after Russian forces dropped seven bombs over a 90-minute period, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. Firefighters and emergency crews rushed into burning streets as buildings caught fire and injured civilians were carried to safety.

The strike hit a city that has been battered repeatedly and sits close to the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine, making it both a military target and a measure of how far the war still reaches into civilian life. Television footage from the scene showed hoses blasting at flames while rescuers pulled people away from damaged buildings, a stark sign that the attack affected both homes and infrastructure in the regional hub.

Zaporizhzhia had already been hit the day before. On June 29, a drone struck a minibus in the city, killing two men and a woman and injuring seven or eight others, including a 7-year-old boy. That followed a June 28 attack with guided aerial bombs that killed one person and injured at least 15 others, including children, and a June 20 strike that killed at least five people and injured 12. One person in the June 20 attack was pulled from the rubble of a destroyed home.

The pattern has made glide bombs one of the most persistent threats facing Ukrainian cities near the fighting. The weapons let Russian aircraft launch from farther away, lowering the risk to pilots while still delivering powerful blasts that can tear through apartment blocks, roads and public utilities. That standoff capability makes them harder to intercept than aircraft flying closer to the target and gives Russian forces a way to keep pressure on urban areas without exposing pilots to the same level of danger.

For residents of Zaporizhzhia, the repeated strikes have turned ordinary movement through the city into a calculation about safety. Each new attack sends first responders back into the same streets, forces local authorities to manage fresh casualties and damage, and leaves civilians trying to maintain daily routines amid repeated alarms and destruction. Ukrainian officials have said these attacks are part of Russia’s broader effort to wear down southern and eastern cities and civilian morale.

The latest bombardment showed how quickly that pressure can escalate. In less than two hours, seven bombs fell, two people were killed and at least 15 more were wounded, adding another chapter to a campaign that has made Zaporizhzhia a recurring target of the war.