23 killed in Russian airstrike on Ukrainian humanitarian convoy

A Russian attack on a humanitarian convoy in the city of Zaporozhye killed at least 23 people and wounded 28 others, a Ukrainian official said.

The governor of the Zaporozhye region, Oleksandr Starukh, said Russian troops were targeting convoys heading for Russian-occupied areas.

He posted images of burned vehicles and bodies lying on the road.

Russian officials did not immediately acknowledge the strike.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said four of the 16 S-300 missiles fired by Russia hit a car market and an area where civilians gathered, leaving to pick up relatives.

It comes as Moscow prepares to annex four regions into Russia as part of an invasion of Ukraine, following an internationally criticized gun referendum vote.

Mr Staruk said those in the convoy planned to travel to Russian-occupied territory to pick up their relatives and then take them to safety. He said rescuers were at the scene of the attack.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has scheduled a vote on a resolution that would condemn Russia for conducting “illegal so-called referendums” in four regions of Ukraine and declare them “null and void.”

The resolution proposed by the United States and Albania would call on all countries not to recognize any change in the status of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

It will reaffirm the UN’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence within its internationally recognized borders.

The Kremlin has announced plans to continue annexing Russian-held areas in the four regions on Friday, a resolution that Russia is sure to veto.

If that happens, the U.S. and Albania will vote on the resolution at the 193-member assembly without a veto, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this week.

A draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press late Thursday would order Russia to “stop and refrain from actions aimed at partially or completely undermining Ukraine’s national unity and territorial integrity.”

It would also require the withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine.