ZAPORIZHZHIA, September 25 — Russian strikes killed at least eight people and injured more than 20 others in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said, with a maternity clinic among the buildings damaged in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The clinic, which provides prenatal and obstetric care, sits in a regional capital on the Dnipro River that has been repeatedly targeted since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike as a war crime and renewed his calls for Western air-defense systems.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment. Moscow has consistently denied targeting civilian infrastructure, claiming its strikes hit military-linked sites.
A city on the front line
Zaporizhzhia, with a pre-war population of about 700,000, lies near the front line and has absorbed numerous deadly attacks. In March 2023, a strike on an apartment building there killed at least 11 people. The city is also home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, which Russian forces seized in March 2022 and which remains a focal point of international safety concerns.
The United Nations has documented thousands of civilian casualties in Ukraine since the invasion, including hundreds at healthcare facilities. The World Health Organization has verified more than 1,500 attacks on health care in Ukraine as of 2024.
Echoes of Mariupol
The strike on the maternity clinic echoes the March 2022 bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, which killed at least four people and injured 17 and drew global outrage. International monitors, including the OSCE and the UN human rights office, have repeatedly called for accountability for attacks on civilian objects. The clinic damage is the latest in a pattern of strikes on medical facilities.
Ukrainian officials said local hospitals appealed for blood donations, and the full casualty toll may rise as debris is cleared.
What is at stake
The attack lands as Ukraine continues its counteroffensive in the south and east, and as Western allies debate further military aid. The United States has provided more than $75 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2022, according to the Pentagon. The European Union has also committed billions in aid.
The strike is likely to intensify calls for additional air-defense systems for Ukraine, particularly Patriot batteries, which have been effective in intercepting Russian missiles. U.S. and European stockpiles are limited, and political debates over aid continue.
The wider picture offers little sign of relief. The war is now in its third year, with no peace talks in sight. The United Nations estimates the conflict has killed over 10,000 civilians and injured nearly 20,000 as of mid-2024, though the actual figures are likely higher.
What to watch next is whether the strike shifts the debate in Western capitals over air-defense deliveries, and whether rescue work at the clinic site yields a higher toll.
