Russian missiles hit city of Zaporizhzhia

The missiles struck apartment buildings in the city near the now-deactivated nuclear plant in Ukraine’s south on Thursday. Authorities said the missiles damaged more than 40 buildings, killing at least three people and wounding 12 more. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attacks as “absolute meanness, absolute evil.” The city is about 77 miles from the nuclear power plant.

Why the attacks? The Zaporizhzhia region is one that Vladimir Putin claimed as Russian territory in violation of international laws, but the city itself is under Ukrainian control. The attack comes as Ukrainian forces are seizing back villages in nearby Kherson in humiliating battlefield defeats for Russian forces amid an unpopular troop mobilization. In Alaska on Thursday, two Russian citizens arrived seeking asylum from military conscription, according to the state’s two U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report in WORLD magazine about the quest to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine.