The images in this article can be experienced as shocking.
The rocket attack took place around 7:30 a.m., when a convoy of some 60 cars gathered at a car market just outside the city. The civilians in the convoy would drive to Russian-occupied territory today to visit relatives, bring relief supplies or return home.
“Most of the people who were hit were in their cars or next to it,” said police colonel Serhi Uyryumov. The convoy was hit by three missiles from an S-300 air defense system, he said. The Russian army ‘knows that we are forming convoys here to go to the occupied territories. They had the coordinates,” Uyryumov said. “This is not a fluke. It’s completely purposeful.’
Photos of the aftermath of the attack show a large crater from a rocket impact, near blown-out cars that are covered in debris and shards. The cars were packed with blankets, suitcases and other belongings. Police officers and rescuers cover the bodies with plastic sheeting, the injured have been taken to nearby hospitals. The day of October 1 has been declared a day of mourning in Zaporizhzhya.
A reporter from Reuters news agency spoke to Natalya, who had visited their children in Zaporizhzhya with her husband. “We were going to go back to my mother, who is 90 years old. We were spared, it’s a miracle,” she says.
“This is where according to the authorities you have to come and register to join a convoy,” Dalina Yakushava tells. The Guardian. She didn’t arrive until after the attack. ‘I live in Mariupol. We just drove our daughter to Poland but have to go back because my parents are there. It’s terrible, but it’s our home.’
“There were a lot of cars waiting to leave because nobody has been able to enter the occupied territories in the past week,” explains Yakushava. In addition, Russia on Friday annexed the areas it controls in Ukraine. Many Ukrainians therefore want to remove their families from occupied territory at the last minute.
A Russian-appointed director of Zaporizhzhya province, Vladimir Rogov, blamed Ukraine for the attack. According to him, the Ukrainians wanted to prevent civilians from leaving for Russia-controlled territory. But the Ukrainians organize the convoys precisely because Russian authorities only allow a limited number of cars per day through the checkpoints.
