Deadly missile attacks in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia have been followed up by another strike on the Ukrainian city, local officials said on Thursday. 

The alleged bombardment came several hours after a Russian rocket strike that killed at least two people overnight in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, and damaged or destroyed several residential buildings and caused widespread fires, Regional Governor Oleksandr Starukh said early on Thursday. 

The strikes came just a few hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared to put "the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine under Russian state control" on Wednesday. 

One woman died in the shelling, another one on the way to the hospital as a result of seven Russian strikes, Starukh revealed in a Telegram post. 

"At least five people are under the rubble of buildings," he said. "Many people were saved. Among them is a 3-year-old girl, the child is being taken care of. A rescue operation continues."

Russia has not yet responded to the allegations.

Ukraine takes more territory Russia incorporates

Ukraine said Thursday its military had recaptured more than 400 square kilometers (155 square miles) in the southern region of Kherson in less than one week, after Moscow claimed to have incorporated the area. 

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated more than 400 square kilometers of the Kherson region since the beginning of October," Ukrainian southern army command spokeswoman Natalia Gumeniuk said in a briefing online.

On Wednesday, with Russian forces retreating from front lines in the south and east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address that Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka to the northeast of Kherson city had been "liberated."

At the United Nations, Russia is lobbying for a secret ballot instead of a public vote next week when the 193-member UN General Assembly considers whether to condemn its incorporation of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south after staging referendums there.

Putin signed a law on Wednesday to accept the regions into Russia. Ukraine says it will never accept an illegal seizure of its territory by force. Kyiv and the West said the referendums were rigged votes held at gunpoint.

The new law would take about 18 percent of Ukraine's territory into Russia. Putin said he wants to ensure Russia's security and protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine, while Kyiv accused Moscow of a land grab.

Russia's move raises the possibility of an escalation in the war, as Putin and other officials have said they could use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory. Yet Zelenskyy addressed pro-Moscow forces, telling them they had already lost. 

"Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia are realizing that they must die simply because one person does not want to end the war," he said in reference to Putin.

(Cover: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine, August 22, 2022. /Xinhua)