Overnight and morning strikes on Zaporizhzhia: four injured; hotel, homes, vehicles, and city mall damaged
During the night of October 26 and into the morning, Russian forces launched a series of attacks on Zaporizhzhia. As a result of the shelling, four people have been reported injured. Private homes, vehicles, buses, and the “Venetia” Hotel sustained damage.
On the morning of October 26, Russian forces struck the non-operational City Mall shopping center again, sparking a fire. Additionally, reports indicate further drone attacks in the city’s residential districts.
Around 03:00 on the night of October 26, Russian forces attacked Zaporizhzhia using guided aerial bombs and attack drones. Residential areas and civilian infrastructure were targeted. According to Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, four people were injured in the overnight attack: two women, aged 22 and 30, and two men, aged 40 and 61. All received the necessary medical attention.
A private residence and four outbuildings were damaged. Three vehicles and dry vegetation also caught fire. In the city’s Shevchenkivskyi district, the overnight shelling damaged over 30 private homes, two of which sustained significant destruction. Rescuers, law enforcement officers, and municipal utility crews worked at the impact sites.
During the overnight attack, the “Venetia” Hotel, located on the Embankment Highway (*Naberezhna Mahistral*) in Zaporizhzhia, was also damaged. One of the strikes hit the roadway directly in front of the hotel. The explosion shattered the building’s glazing and damaged two buses. Vehicles near the impact site caught fire, and municipal crews began clearing the aftermath of the shelling.
On the morning of October 26, around 08:00, Russian forces launched another strike on Zaporizhzhia. This time, the “City Mall” shopping and entertainment center was targeted. The impact sparked a fire in the building. Rescuers arrived at the scene and began extinguishing the blaze. The shopping center was closed at the time of the attack, so there were no injuries. This is not the first Russian attack on this complex; on September 7, Russian forces struck the City Mall, causing a massive fire. Previous shelling had already caused significant damage to the structure. The shopping center has remained closed since early September for safety reasons.
There are also reports of new attacks in the city involving FPV drones, “Molniya” drones, and jet-powered “Shahed” drones. In addition to the overnight and morning strikes, numerous reports of drone attacks in Zaporizhzhia have emerged throughout the first half of the day. At 08:55, air defense forces shot down a jet-powered “Shahed” drone as it was flying from the Khortytskyi district toward Nizhnia Khortytsia.
At 10:55, an FPV drone struck a parking lot in the Pisky area. At 12:02, in the Kosmichnyi district, reports emerged that a “Tavria Nova” car and the windows of an apartment in a high-rise building had been damaged following a drone strike on Kosmichna Street. At 12:40, an FPV drone damaged the roof of an apartment building on Bocharova Street. At 12:59, according to local residents, another FPV drone crashed in the yard of a private house on Stepova Street. Preliminary information indicates no casualties or fires. At 13:45, a separate strike was reported near a truck on Zvenyhorodska Street. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties.