Deadly Russian strike kills at least three in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

At least three people were killed and 20 injured, many of whom are in critical condition, after a Russian strike on the city Zaphorizhzhia in Ukraine on Tuesday.

According to regional governor Ivan Fedorov, the strike hit a private clinic in the city centre, damaging buildings nearby.

"Medics, police and rescuers are currently working at the attack site," he wrote on Telegram.

Among the victims were two doctors and a five-year-old girl.

At least 11 were injured in a separate, double ballistic missile attack on the town of Zlatopil in the Kharkiv region.

An administrative building and 16 residential buildings were damaged, according to local authorities.

In a post on social media platform X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Zaporizhzhia strike proves that Ukraine needs to enhance its air defence systems.

He added that Kyiv submitted all the necessary requests to its partners to do so.

The attack comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that he’s open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security as part of a broad effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia.

The deployment would be a step toward Ukraine joining NATO, Zelenskyy said in a post on his Telegram channel.

His proposals tread a delicate diplomatic path amid international efforts to find a way of ending Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II at a time when Russia has gained an upper hand in the fighting.