Russian strikes kill children in Ukraine as attacks hit cities and infrastructure

Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least 28 people on Wednesday, including five children in the northern city of Pryluky, according to Ukrainian officials cited by Channels Television. Other reporting, including the BBC, placed the nationwide death toll at 25, reflecting differing counts as rescue operations continued. The heaviest casualties were reported in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region east of Kyiv.

A missile struck a five-storey apartment building at about 6:30am local time, when residents were asleep. Ukrainian authorities said 20 people died there, while the BBC reported that 19 had been confirmed killed at the building. President Volodymyr Zelensky said three of the children killed were one year old and another was eight.

The Interior Ministry said rescuers later recovered the body of a fifth child. More than 50 residents were wounded in the Pryluky attack, according to the BBC, and nearby residential buildings and a youth centre were also damaged. Residents described taking shelter inside their homes as windows and parts of the building were destroyed.

Olena Sayun, a resident quoted by AFP, said she and her husband covered their child with their bodies before moving to the bathroom. Emergency workers spent hours searching through charred concrete and twisted metal for survivors and victims. Elsewhere, two people were killed in a strike on Kremenchuk and two in Oleksandriya, according to Zelensky.

The BBC said more than 430 apartments and private homes were damaged in Kremenchuk. In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported deaths caused by a fire in the Darnytskyi district and further deaths in later strikes. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones, while Zelensky said 70 missiles had been fired.

The air force reported intercepting five ballistic missiles, 39 cruise missiles and more than 100 drones. The BBC said the figures indicated that a number of missiles nevertheless penetrated Ukrainian defences, and Zelensky renewed his call for additional air-defence systems. Ukrainian officials said energy infrastructure was among the targets.

Power cuts affected parts of Kyiv, disrupting traffic and water supplies, and residents spent the night in underground stations as air-raid sirens sounded. Moscow said its “massive strike” targeted military industries in Kyiv and elsewhere and did not specifically address the Pryluky casualties. Zelensky said Ukraine had carried out retaliatory attacks on two oil facilities and a training ground in Russia’s Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions, as well as a target in the Black Sea.

Russian-installed officials also reported deaths from Ukrainian drone attacks in occupied parts of the Kherson and Donetsk regions. The competing claims could not be independently reconciled in the supplied reports.