Ukrainian officials said at least 13 people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian air strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhya, the latest in a series of Russian attacks causing widespread civilian casualties.
The January 8 strike hit an industrial district of the city around midafternoon, said Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional administration.
According to reports, debris hit a tram and a minibus with passengers, damaging cars parked nearby.
Video released by emergency services showed bodies mangled and bloodied on sidewalks as firefighters rushed to put out car fires and extinguish a blaze in a nearby administrative building.
"There is nothing more cruel than air strikes on a city, with the knowledge that ordinary civilians will suffer," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Telegram post that included graphic footage of the blast's aftermath.
It's unclear what weapon was used, though the scope of the damage and casualties suggested a larger weapon.
Ukrainian authorities, who earlier sounded air-raid sirens, warned of the possibility of a missile launch or a possible glide bomb -- an air-dropped guided weapon that Russia has used to devastating effect on Ukrainian defenses.
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Deadly Russian Strike On Zaporizhzhya Causes Dozens Of Casualties
"The number of injured and dead is constantly increasing. Police, rescuers, medics, and other specialized services are continuously working to eliminate the consequences of the enemy attack," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.
"They are clearing the rubble, searching for people, providing assistance to the victims.... In particular, police paramedics saved five people."
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Russian officials.
Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure since the start of the war. It has also been accused by Kyiv of targeting residential buildings, which Moscow denies despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
Ukraine has also been accused by Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure, but to a far less decgree.
Earlier, Ukraine claimed to have hit an oil depot inside Russia that served a strategic air base in the southern Saratov region.
The January 8 strike "creates serious logistical problems for the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers and significantly reduces their ability to strike at peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilian objects," Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces claimed on social media.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, added that "long-range capabilities" were deployed in the strike, while he also used the hashtag #MadeInUkraine, implying locally made weapons, not arms supplied by the West, were used.
"Numerous explosions were recorded in the area of the target, a large-scale fire broke out. It should be noted that this oil depot supplied fuel to the Engels-2 military airfield, where the enemy's strategic aviation is based," the General Staff of the Armed Forces said.
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Since the beginning of 2024, Russian refineries have been regularly targeted by Ukrainian drones. At some, primary oil-processing units have failed and required repairs. Russia has said it has partially restored capacity at some key oil refineries.
The strike comes as Ukrainian forces resume their offensive operations in several directions within the Kursk region, which analysts told Current Time gives Kyiv a bargaining chip in any possible cease-fire or peace talks with Moscow.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump reiterated on January 7 that he is eager to see negotiations with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine begin soon after he returns to the White House later this month, but gave no specifics on when they would take place.
Trump said he wants to see negotiations soon because “Russia is losing a lot of young people and so is Ukraine.”
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What Awaits Ukraine War In 2025 Amid Shifting Political Climate?
Trump, who spoke with reporters at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, didn’t say whether or how soon he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin but said such a meeting would not be appropriate until after he is inaugurated on January 20.
"I can't tell you that, but I know Putin would like to meet," Trump said.
At the end of December, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no preconditions for a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
SEE ALSO: Will The War In Ukraine End In 2025?Dmytro Levus, a political analyst at the United Ukraine think tank, told Current Time on January 8 that Trump has limited levers to use against Russia if it does not agree to any peace deal.
"It's possible to put pressure on Russia in the oil sector," he said.
The president-elect said during his election campaign he could end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
At the news conference on January 7, Trump said he hoped to end the fighting within six months.
SEE ALSO: What A Ukraine Peace Plan Could Look LikeTrump’s return to the White House brings with it uncertainty on what impact it will have on Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is nearly three years old, and whether negotiations can take place. But Trump told the news conference he is determined to get it "straightened out," adding that it is "a tough one."
Ukrainian officials are concerned that any hastily arranged negotiations could allow Russia to hold on to Ukrainian territory it has seized and would also give Russian forces time to rest and reorganize.
The Ukrainians also want to encourage Trump to continue U.S. military support for their country.