KYIV: A Russian strike on an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has killed at least three people, local authorities said Thursday as search operations were ongoing.

“One missile hit a high-rise residential building. Residents sleeping peacefully were trapped under the rubble,” the Ukrainian police said on Facebook.

Emergency services videos showed rescuers hunting through the debris of the five-storey building, where more than 10 apartments were destroyed, according to police.

Zaporizhzhia Mayor Anatoliy Kurtiev said seven injured were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman.

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“The terrorist state wants to turn every day for our people into a day of terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted.

“But evil will not reign in our land. We will drive all the occupiers out and they will definitely be held accountable for everything,” Zelensky said.

In January, a Russian strike on a tower block killed at least 45 people including six children in the central city of Dnipro.

Russia claims to have annexed the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson but has never fully controlled them.