Russian bombs kill seven in Zaporizhzhia as Trump announces diesel deal with Putin

Early Saturday strike on Zaporizhzhia

Russian guided aerial bombs struck the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine early on Saturday, with the attack beginning around 4:48 local time according to Onet. Regional military administration head Mykhailo Semikin reported seven dead, including three children, and ten wounded, two of them in serious condition. Onet reported that the strikes damaged residential buildings in two city districts, with at least 26 residential buildings hit, among them 23 apartment blocks and three single-family houses. Rescue teams and police were still clearing rubble and searching for residents trapped under a five-storey block that was hit directly. Four people were taken to hospital and five received outpatient treatment, while two more were being examined.

Semikin wrote on Telegram:

Following the Russian attack there are already seven dead. Among them are three children. Ten people were wounded, including one child. Two injured people are in serious condition.

Escalating aerial war and Friday's attack

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than four and a half years after Moscow's full-scale invasion, according to the Irish Examiner. Onet reported that on Friday morning, 9 October, Russian aircraft dropped six guided aerial bombs on the city, killing one man and wounding 23 people. That attack partly destroyed one residential block, damaged at least 20 other residential buildings, and struck civilian vehicles and a children's educational facility. The Irish Examiner reported that Ukraine is struggling to counter escalating Russian bombardments that have killed more than 55 people over the past four days. Saturday's strike was the second consecutive morning in which Zaporizhzhia came under a barrage of guided bombs.

Trump's diesel deal with Putin

Donald Trump said on social media on Friday that he had struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that had been expected to focus on a suspected case of plague in Russia. He announced that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and one million tons "immediately thereafter", and then deliver a further three million tons "within a short period of time". The Irish Examiner described the deal as a reversal of years of US pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine, and in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia sanctions law Trump signed last month. The same outlet described the deal as an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections. The announcement came as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met Ukrainian officials in Miami to discuss a proposal to end the war.

Zelensky's response

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a lengthy online post that Russia would repay the deal "with further terror and perfidy", casting it as an investment in the war that allows it to be prolonged. A statement from the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington quoted him calling it "a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners". On the Miami talks, Zelensky said:

I believe our team is simply being used as a smokescreen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other.

The Saturday strike came a day after Trump announced the diesel deal.