Russian missiles hit ‘humanitarian convoy’ in Zaporizhzhia, killing civilians

Russian missiles hit ‘humanitarian convoy’ leaving at least 23 civilians dead in Ukrainian region that Putin plans to annex TODAY

  • Missiles struck civilian convoy near Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early on Friday
  • Multiple people killed trying to get into Russian-occupied territory to deliver aid
  • Comes as Putin plans to annex the whole of the Zaporizhzhia region later today 

Russian missiles have destroyed a humanitarian convoy in southern Ukraine today, leaving at least 23 civilians dead.

Rockets hit a queue of cars driving out of the Ukrainian-occupied city of Zaporizhzhia into nearby Russian-occupied territory in the early hours of Friday.

Oleksandr Starukh, the Zaporizhzhia regional governor, said at least 28 people had also been wounded in the strike, and all of the victims were civilians.

The attack took place just hours before a speech by Vladimir Putin in which he will announce the Zaporizhzhia region – along with Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson – are being annexed to Russia under the guise of protecting them. 

Photos from Zaporizhzhia showed a road littered with blown-out cars and at least two bodies lying on the ground, as survivors picked their way through the rubble.

One witness reported seeing about 12 bodies, four of them in cars, and said a missile had left a crater in the ground near two lines of vehicles at a car market. 

The impact had thrown chunks of dirt ino the air and sprayed the vehicles with shrapnel. The windows of the vehicles – mostly cars and three vans, were blown out.

The vehicles were packed with belongings, blankets and suitcases. 

In one of them, the body of a man was leaned from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat, his left hand still clutching the steering wheel.



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