Russian strikes kill at least 12 after bridge blast

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian missile barrage that crumbled apartment buildings and houses in Ukraine's city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least a dozen people, Ukrainian officials said Sunday as Moscow strained to enforce its takeover of illegally annexed territory.

The blasts that collapsed at least one high-rise residential building and blew out the windows of others came from six missiles launched in Russian-occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region, the Ukrainian air force said.

The region is one of four Russia claimed as its own this month, but the regional capital remains under Ukrainian control.

In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, the city council said 17 were killed but later revised that down to 12.

Regional police reported on Sunday afternoon that 13 had been killed and more than 60 wounded, at least 10 of whom were children.

The multiple strikes came after an explosion Saturday caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia.

The Kerch Bridge attack damaged an important supply route for the Kremlin's faltering war effort in Ukraine and a towering symbol of Russia's power in the region.

Stunned residents watched from behind police tape as emergency crews tried to reach the upper floors of a building that took a direct hit.

The attack collapsed several floors, leaving a smouldering chasm at least 40-feet wide where apartments had stood. Several hours later, the top floors caved in as well.

In an adjacent apartment building, the barrage blew windows and doors out of their frames in a radius of hundreds of feet.

At least 20 private homes and 50 apartment buildings in all were damaged, and at least 40 people were hospitalised, city council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said.

Russian officials did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of the Zaporizhzhia region last week, Russia has repeatedly bombarded the city of the same name. At least 19 people died in Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings in the city on Thursday.

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