The attack on the five-storey building took place in the early hours of Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Two people were killed in the strike, and "the apartment block was almost completely destroyed,” Zaporizhzhia’s acting mayor, Anatoly Kurtev, said.
Rescuers saved nine survivors from under the rubble, including a pregnant woman, all of whom were taken to hospital, while a further 20 people were evacuated, according to PAP.
The Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration said Russia appeared to have used "a S-300 missile," Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, said in a tweet about the attack: “Zaporizhzhia bravely resists the Russian aggressor. In retaliation, it attacks civilians. A high-rise building was deliberately hit last night. Three floors are completely destroyed. People died. We continue to search under the rubble. My condolences to the victims. We will not forgive this.”
'Winter is over, but threat to Ukraine's energy infrastructure remains': Zelensky
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country has managed to survive the winter, but warned that Russia still posed a threat to energy facilities.
Zelensky made the assessment in a video address to Ukrainians late on Wednesday.
He said: “This winter is over. It was very difficult, and every Ukrainian without exaggeration felt this difficulty.”
He added: “But we still managed to provide Ukraine with energy and heat.”
Zelensky went on to say: “Yes, the threat to the energy system remains. But the work for the sake of the energy system is also continued.”
Rising temperatures hamper ground operations in Ukraine: UK
The British Ministry of Defence on Thursday published a "wartime weather forecast," predicting “warmer than average conditions for the remainder of winter and spring.”
In their latest intelligence update, the UK analysts wrote: “As Ukrainian forces continue their defence of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, rising temperatures are now creating the muddy conditions known in Ukrainian as bezdorizhzhia, limiting cross country movement (CCM).”
They noted that “poor CCM typically provides some military advantage to defending forces.”
The British Ministry of Defence said: “Daytime soil temperatures have risen and are now largely above freezing. As experienced since mid-February 2023, overnight freeze and daytime thaw remains likely until next week. Forecast warmer than average conditions for the remainder of winter and spring will further reduce CCM.”
According to the UK analysts, “it is almost certain that by late-March, CCM will be at its worst following the final thaw. This will add further friction to ground operations and hamper the off-road movement of heavier armoured vehicles, especially over churned-up ground in the Bakhmut sector.”
Thursday is day 372 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, The Guardian, president.gov.ua, UK Ministry of Defence