Russian missile hits hotel used by UN in Zaporizhzhia

A Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday evening, leaving one dead and 16 injured, Ukrainian officials said.

National police said an Iskander missile hit the city at 7:20 p.m. (1620 GMT).

“Zaporizhzhia. The city suffers daily from Russian shelling. A fire broke out in a civilian building after the occupiers hit it with a missile,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Zaporizhzhia Governor Yuriy Malashko said the 16 injured included four children.

Pictures and video shared by officials showed a big crater, wrecked cars and a badly damaged four-storey building with a hotel sign.

Local media reported the damaged building is Reikartz Hotel in the city centre on the bank of the Dnipro River.

TheUnited Nations staff used the hotel when they worked in the town, said Denise Brown, the humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, in an emailed statement.

“I am appalled by the news that a hotel frequently used by United Nations personnel and our colleagues from NGOs supporting people affected by the war has been hit by a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia shortly ago,” she said. “I have stayed in this hotel every single time I visited Zaporizhzhia.”

It was the second strike on Zaporizhzhia in as many days. Two young women and a man were killed and nine other people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Wednesday.