Sixteen people were injured in a Russian airstrike on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya on Monday morning, the local authorities said.

It was reportedly the first time that the city had been targeted with so-called glide bombs, according to Ukrainian media reports.

The overnight attack damaged 13 residential buildings, two kindergartens and several cars, the Ukrainian police confirmed.

The city is located about 60 kilometres from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is occupied by the Russian military.

Russian fighter jets drop glide bombs near the front lines. The munitions are then guided to their targets over a distance of dozens of kilometres.

These bombs, carrying several hundred kilogrammes of explosives, have caused significant damage in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and other locations.

To counter such attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is requesting permission to use Western weapons against Russian airbases near the front lines.

But Kyiv’s strongest allies have been reluctant for fear of edging themselves further towards direct confrontation with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that if the West lets Kyiv use long-range precision weapons to strike targets deep in Russian territory, this means NATO is entering the war.

Mr Zelensky is in the United States to press his case for what he called a “victory plan.”

In his daily video message on Sunday, he said he would meet US President Joe Biden and presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Mr Zelensky will attend the UN Security Council and speak at the UN General Assembly during his U.S. visit.

“Ukraine’s Victory Plan will be on the table of all our allies,” he posted on X. (

dpa/NAN)