Russia's attack on Zaporizhzhia causes highest civilian casualties in two years - UN mission

The UN mission announced this on January 9, Radio Liberty reports.

The number of killed and injured as a result of the shelling of Zaporizhzhia on January 8 became the highest recorded by the organization since the attack on a residential building in Dnipro on January 14, 2023, and the deadliest since the attack on a supermarket in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region on August 9, 2024.  

The UN noted that the Russian attack occurred in the afternoon, when many workers were leaving the enterprise after their shifts. As a result, they were killed or injured while on the street or in public transport outside the facility.  

"Glide bombs have become one of the greatest threats to civilians in cities along the front line. They are also one of the main reasons for the 30 percent increase in the number of dead and injured in 2024 compared to 2023," said the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).  

According to HRMMU data, 360 people were killed by glide bombs in 2024, which is three times the number of deaths in 2023. Another 1,861 were injured, six times more than the previous year.  

The increase in civilian casualties from glide bombs in 2024 resulted from modifications that allow the bombs to glide rather than simply fall, expanding their impact zone. Now they can reach cities farther from the front line, such as Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia.

• On January 8, Russia attacked Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, killing 13 people and injuring 122.