Russian airstrikes kill civilians in Zaporizhzhia and other Ukrainian cities, Zelensky calls for stronger sanctions

Russian airstrikes on Ukraine killed two civilians in Zaporizhzhia and wounded 14 people nationwide, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday. He added that attacks also hit Kyiv, as well as the Odessa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia regions.

In Sumy, the Russian Air Force struck the city, killing at least two people and wounding six, according to local officials. Two more deaths were reported in Dnipro, where a separate airstrike injured two residents, regional military administrator Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.

"It is important that our partners do not forget: Russia escalates every day," Hanzha wrote, adding that tougher sanctions from the United States and the European Union were needed.

Zelensky also confirmed Ukrainian drone attacks on the Ilsk refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region and a weapons factory in the Rostov region. On Friday, Russian drone strikes on Kyiv killed seven people and injured 59.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in St. Petersburg, warned of intensified strikes against Ukraine in response to a large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow that coincided with Russia's parliamentary election.

In the Russian-occupied Kherson region, a Ukrainian drone hit a café, killing two young women, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, while a drone strike in Belgorod wounded two women in a car. Independent verification of these incidents was not available.