Russian Glide Bombs Kill at Least 15 in Zaporizhzhia Hours After Trump Announces Russian Diesel Deal

Russian forces hit the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with guided aerial bombs at about 4:48 a.m. local time today, Oct. 10. At least 15 people are dead, including three children, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service, regional officials and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky said five glide bombs hit residential buildings.

Sixteen people were injured, including two children, the emergency service said. Earlier, Zelensky had said 14 were injured and that two of the wounded were in critical condition.

The toll climbed all morning and varied across official statements. Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the regional military administration, first reported seven dead, including three children. Ivan Fedorov, co-chair of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council, said at 10:16 a.m. local time that the toll had risen to eight, with 16 wounded. At 11:53 a.m., Semikin reported 11 civilians killed. Zelensky then confirmed 12 dead. By 1:47 p.m. Kyiv time, the State Emergency Service reported 15.

A five-story building collapses

One bomb struck a five-story apartment building. Acting Mayor Regina Kharchenko, speaking from the scene, said the ground floor was hit and the floors above collapsed.

More than 80 rescue workers are digging through the rubble. They stop at intervals to listen for sounds from survivors. Zelensky said information was being checked on 12 more people who may have been at the site.

Kharchenko said Russia struck "our very heart," and that "our littlest ones" were among the dead. Sunday, Oct. 11, has been declared a day of mourning in the city.

The attack damaged at least 26 residential buildings across the city's Shevchenkivskyi and Voznesenivskyi districts, including 23 apartment buildings and three private houses, according to Kyiv Post. Municipal officials said three buildings suffered heavy damage.

Zaporizhzhia has more than 700,000 residents and sits less than 10 miles from the front line. Russia has hit it repeatedly with glide bombs, drones and missiles. On Friday morning, Oct. 9, Russian aircraft dropped six guided bombs on the city, killing at least one person, according to regional authorities. The city's regional council building was hit by an FPV drone on Oct. 8.

Zelensky said 13 Ukrainian regions came under Russian fire overnight. Residential buildings, energy infrastructure and railway facilities were damaged.

The diesel announcement

On Friday, Trump said he had a "highly successful discussion" with Putin. He said Putin agreed to "immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter."

The aim is to ease fuel prices during the U.S.-Iran war. Trump said Friday he is "about to settle, or win" that conflict.

The Kremlin's readout of the Oct. 9 call said "considerable focus was on prospects for settling the Ukraine crisis," with Iran and bilateral relations also touched on. The Kremlin did not say what was discussed on Iran.

The deal also sits awkwardly with Trump's own paper trail. Less than a month ago he signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law. The White House said it "authorizes and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs, and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran."

Zelensky's response

The strike came hours after the announcement. Zelensky draws the line himself.

"Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia," he wrote on X.

He has called the diesel deal a gift to Putin and "an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged."

"Russia interprets any easing of pressure as a signal that it can supposedly continue the war," Zelensky said. "Russia must understand that the war needs to be stopped, and for that, it must feel its losses." He credited Ukraine's long-range capabilities with imposing those losses and said, "Our responses to [these] Russian strikes will come."

Trump's stated case is narrower and about prices. More diesel on the market, starting with 300,000 tons, would ease the strain on global energy prices during the Iran war. Zelensky's counter is that letting Russia sell fuel means investing in its war.

A deadly week

Zaporizhzhia is one of three mass-casualty strikes in four days. On Thursday, Oct. 8, at least 33 people died when Russian glide bombs hit two civilian buses in Kramatorsk, in Donetsk region. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, a Russian missile hit an apartment block in Pryluky, east of Kyiv, killing 22 people including five children.

Both sides have also stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months. Ukraine has struck data centres owned by tech giant Yandex, and Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

What comes next

Search-and-rescue work in Zaporizhzhia continues, and the toll is not final with a dozen residents unaccounted for. Zelensky has promised a response but has not said what it will be.