KYIV — At least 28 people, including five children, were killed in a series of Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian authorities said.
One of the deadliest attacks struck an apartment building in the Pryluky district of northern Chernihiv region, where a Russian missile hit the five-storey residential block while residents were sleeping. Much of the building was reduced to a heap of burned concrete and twisted metal, with windows shattered by the force of the explosion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three of the children killed in the strike were just 12 months old, while another was eight. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry later reported that rescuers recovered the body of another child from beneath the rubble.
Zelenskyy’s office said 20 people were killed in the strike on the Pryluky apartment building alone. Several others were wounded, including seven children, according to the Ukrainian president.
Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian areas and infrastructure.
“The continued use of missiles against Ukraine, our people and children is a deliberate attempt to spread terror,” he said.
A 40-year-old massage therapist, Olena Saiun, told AFP that she and her family were sleeping when the blast shattered their windows. She said she and her husband suffered cuts while shielding their child from the explosion.
The child suffered severe psychological distress during the attack, she said, adding that the family rushed to the bathroom for safety as their apartment was being torn apart.
Residents said the strikes on Pryluky began at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The attack came a day after Zelenskyy warned that Russia could launch a large-scale assault, particularly against energy infrastructure, as winter approaches.
In Kyiv, residents sought refuge in subway stations, carrying bags, sleeping mats and blankets as air-raid sirens sounded repeatedly.
“We have come here with our belongings,” bank employee Iryna Rybালchenko told AFP from a subway platform. She said the city was gripped by fear and that residents were receiving repeated warnings from employers and colleagues to remain alert.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia attacked several regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Poltava, with at least 50 missiles and 130 drones.
Zelenskyy described the strikes as among the most horrific attacks of the nearly five-year-old war. While Ukrainian air defences managed to intercept some missiles and drones, he said ballistic missiles remained a major challenge and stressed the urgent need for additional air-defence systems.
Yulia Shamrai, a 31-year-old online marketing worker living near the damaged apartment building in Pryluky, questioned the military purpose of the attack.
“I cannot understand what military objective Russia achieved through this attack,” she told AFP.
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