Russian aerial attack on Zaporizhzhia kills one, injures 32 civilians including children
On the afternoon of October 1, 2024, Russian occupying forces dropped six aerial bombs on Zaporizhzhia. The strikes targeted residential areas and infrastructure facilities, killing one person and injuring 32 others.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, one person had been killed in the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia, and 32 people, including three children, had sustained injuries.
Earlier, Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian attacks on Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts had injured 38 civilians, including two children, over the past 24 hours of September 27. The attacks also killed one person that day.
Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, reported that an FPV drone attack killed a resident of Mala Tokmachka in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The man was outdoors during the attack.
Previously, the Defense Express reported that Russia has begun installing SpaceX‘s Starlink satellite communications on Shahed-136 attack drones. Ukrainian defence forces discovered Starlink equipment on a drone they shot down during a Russian attack on the night of September 24-25, 2024.
Defense Express has published photos showing a satellite dish with a serial number, which investigators will use to trace the supply channels of the Starlink terminal.
The outlet explained that by equipping the Shaheds with satellite communications, Russia can obtain powerful feedback from these drones, along with the ability to transmit data from it and the capability to change flight tasks at any distance. This development primarily transforms a Shahed drone into a reconnaissance tool.
With Starlink capabilities, Russians can deploy a Shahed drone as an extremely long-range loitering munition capable of additional reconnaissance with an extra camera. The drone can even strike moving targets.
Russia likely chose Shaheds for this purpose due to their range (around 2,000 km) and significant internal space in the fuselage.
Defense Express also reported that while Starlink neither operates nor sells its services in Russia, Russian forces are acquiring it through third-party countries.
During a recent address to the General Assembly, Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia plans to attack three nuclear power plants in Ukraine as winter approaches.
In addition, he urged countries to support Ukraine’s Peace Formula, asserting that it is the only path to a just peace. The Formula consists of ten points.
The Ukrainian President argued that other initiatives, including those proposed by China and Brazil, would allow the aggressor state to continue its war against the Ukrainian people.
