Russia Zelensky visits the near-frontline city of Zaporizhia

Two days after a Russian missile attack that left eleven dead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi visited the city of Zaporizhzhya, which is increasingly affected by the war. He visited the damaged clinic where a Russian missile hit on Tuesday and paid tribute to the victims. This was announced by the Ukrainian presidential office.

"There is a lot to do in Zaporizhzhya: the security situation, the protection of the sky," said Zelenskyi in a video message. In the southern city, which had 700,000 inhabitants before the Russian war of aggression, the president discussed the situation on the approaching front with the military. Should Ukrainian troops have to evacuate the last towns in the Donetsk region further east, there are only 130 kilometers of open, poorly defensible steppe land to Zaporizhzhya on the Dnipro.

Underground school for children

Russia has declared the Ukrainian administrative region of Zaporizhia to be part of its territory, even though it only controls part of it militarily. In recent weeks, the regional capital has been increasingly hit by Russian aerial bombs, which have also made life difficult in Kharkiv in the east.

As in Kharkiv, a bomb-proof underground school for 1,000 children was built in Zaporizhzhya, which Zelenskyi attended. "It is very important that the war does not deprive children of the chance to become successful adults," he said. Ukraine has been defending itself against a large-scale Russian invasion for almost three years.