People clear debris at the site of a residential area hit by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine 16 July 2026;
Credit: REUTERS/Stringer
KYIV (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas in towns and cities, many along the front line of the more than four-year-old war, killed at least thirteen people on Thursday 16 July 2026, local officials said.
A Russian guided bomb attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and injured fifteen, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov on Telegram.
Reuters TV footage showed firefighters tackling the aftermath of the blazes, while emergency crews searched through the rubble of damaged buildings in the city, which has come under intensified attack in recent weeks.
Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port city of Odesa, another frequent target of Moscow, killing two people, injuring six and damaging civilian infrastructure.
Outside the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, a Russian drone attack killed one person, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. Earlier in the day, a drone strike near the city of Kupiansk, further east, killed three people.
In the Donetsk region, the focal point of much of the fighting along the 1,200 km front line, the regional governor said one person was killed and five were injured near Kramatorsk, one of the "fortress towns" where Ukraine has strengthened its defences.
Across the border, local officials in Russia's Belgorod region said one person was killed when Ukrainian forces shelled a settlement near the border.
Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed head of the Russian-controlled part of the Donetsk region, also said one person was killed in territory held by Russian forces.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the accounts from either side.
