Russian Strikes Set Factory and Business on Fire in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, Four Injured in Odesa Region

Russian strikes started major fires at industrial sites in Ukraine's Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions, with firefighting footage released today, Oct. 16.

The attacks came as President Volodymyr Zelensky met European leaders for talks.

Odesa region: homes, an energy site and a factory

Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, said four people were injured in Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in the region.

Seven private homes, an energy facility and a plant that makes household goods were damaged, Kiper said. Large fires broke out. They have since been extinguished.

Emergency services footage shows firefighters dragging hoses toward the burning factory building. Products lay scattered on the ground outside.

Kiper said emergency services are still working at the strike sites.

Zaporizhzhia: a private business burns

The Zaporizhzhia strike came on the evening of Oct. 15. Mykhailo Semikin, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram that a private enterprise was hit and a fire broke out.

Preliminary information from his office showed no injuries. Semikin's office said details were still being verified and the picture could change.

Footage from Ukraine's emergency services shows crews using an elevated platform to fight a fire covering 500 square metres. Water jets are trained on the flames.

Local media report the strike hit near a brewery. Regional authorities have not confirmed the exact location. They have also not said what weapon was used or how extensive the damage is.

A hard month for Zaporizhzhia

This was not an isolated hit. Zaporizhzhia has been struck repeatedly in recent days.

On the morning of Oct. 9, a Russian attack killed one person and wounded seven others. On the morning of Oct. 10, an airstrike hit a five-story residential building and killed 20 people.

On Oct. 14, Russian forces struck residential streets in the city's Voznesenivskyi district, a largely private-housing area. Rescuers pulled a man from the rubble of a destroyed building, and he later died in the hospital.

The Oct. 15 strike on a business is the latest in that run. Regional officials have described attacks on homes, businesses and other civilian infrastructure as routine for the city and surrounding region.

Diplomacy on the same day

Footage shows Zelensky arriving at a gathering of European leaders alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk were also filmed at the talks.

No outcome from the talks has been announced.

The strikes on a household goods plant and a private business hit commercial targets, not military ones. That means lost jobs and lost output for local economies already absorbing repeated attacks, on top of the homes and energy infrastructure damaged in Odesa region.

Semikin's office is still working to establish the weapon used and the full damage in Zaporizhzhia. Kiper's office has not given a damage estimate for the Odesa plant, the homes or the energy facility.