Russian attack on southeastern Ukrainian town kills seven, officials say

The body of a killed person is seen at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine June 29, 2024. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Via Telegram/via REUTERS

(Reuters) -Russian forces on Saturday fired missiles at the town of Vilniansk, outside the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing seven people, including two children, and injuring up to 18 others, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defences to stop what he said were daily attacks.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko put the death toll at seven, including two children, with 18 others injured, including four children.

"Today the enemy carried out yet another dreadful terrorist act against the civilian population," Zaporizhzhia Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.

The attack occurred in "the middle of the day, a non-working day, in the town centre, where people were out relaxing, where there were no military targets," Fedorov said.

Zelenskiy posted photos from the site showing a large crater, downed trees and a pair of tarpaulins spread out on the ground of what looked like a park.

"Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes. But there are ways to overcome this," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.

"Destroying terrorists where they are. Destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with real long-range capability and increasing the number of modern air defence systems in Ukraine" were ways to defend the country from such attacks, Zelenskiy said.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Paul Simao)