Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone assault on several Ukrainian cities, killing 25 people, including four children, while causing extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Pryluky and other cities.
Russian forces attacked the capital with ballistic missiles in several waves, with the first salvo launched at Kyiv shortly after 3 a.m.
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The Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA) reported in the morning that two people had been killed in the attack.
According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, impacts were recorded in the Podilskyi, Obolonskyi, Darnytskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts.
The State Emergency Service (DSNS) said firefighters extinguished a fire covering 200 square meters (2,153 square feet) at a garage cooperative in the Darnytskyi district. The bodies of two victims were found during the firefighting operation, while two other people were rescued.
Fires also broke out at two non-residential buildings in the Podilskyi district.
Emergency services are working at the sites.
Russian missiles hit residential area in Kremenchuk
After 6 a.m., Vitaliy Diakivnych, head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration (OVA), reported a massive missile and drone attack on the region, with explosions heard in Kremenchuk.
The Ukrainian Air Force said groups of cruise missiles were heading toward the city.
Diakivnych later reported that a residential area in Kremenchuk had been hit, damaging apartment buildings. An industrial facility in the Kremenchuk district was also struck.
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Kremenchuk Mayor Vitaliy Maletskyi said several apartment buildings and private homes had been damaged, describing the destruction as some of the most extensive damage to residential housing in the city since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Windows were blown out, while facades and structural elements of buildings were damaged. Residents’ vehicles were also affected.
Medical personnel are assisting those in need, while municipal and utility services are working at the sites to document the damage, help residents and clear the aftermath of the attack, Maletskyi said.
In his latest report at 8:40 a.m., Diakivnych said that, according to preliminary information, two people had been killed in Kremenchuk.
“My condolences to their families and loved ones. Seven others were injured. The rescue operation is ongoing,” he wrote.
Residential building damaged in Pryluky
Pryluky, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Kyiv in the Chernihiv region, was also hit during the overnight attack, with civilian and utility infrastructure damaged, according to the Pryluky City Council.
Suspilne, citing its correspondent and local Telegram channels, reported that a Russian missile struck a five-story apartment building in one of the city’s neighborhoods.
Published images from the scene showed severe damage to the building, including the collapse of a large section of the structure.
Emergency services were deployed to the site and were searching through the rubble for residents.
“Preliminary reports indicate fatalities and injuries. All emergency services have been deployed, and debris clearing operations are underway,” the Pryluky Operatyvni Telegram channel reported.
However, a report from the DSNS issued at 9:29 a.m. said a Russian attack on a multi-story residential building in Pryluky had killed four people and injured another 20, including three children, according to preliminary information.
“Emergency responders rescued one person. At another location, a fire broke out in an industrial building due to Russian shelling. Operations to address the aftermath of the attacks are currently underway,” the report said.
In a further update, Chernihiv Regional State Administration Head Viacheslav Chaus said the death toll in Pryluky had risen to 20, including four children. Another 55 people were injured, including seven children. Operations to clear the aftermath of the attack remain underway, with rescuers dismantling destroyed structures and searching the rubble. All emergency services are working at the scene.
A video purportedly showing the moment a missile struck the building is also circulating online. Kyiv Post has been unable to independently verify the time or location of the footage.
Attacks reported across Ukraine
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA, reported that Russia hit an industrial facility in Dnipro.
In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces targeted transportation infrastructure.
In the Kirovohrad region, Oleksandriia Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko reported a Russian strike on the city’s critical infrastructure and said there were injuries.
Kuzmenko reported that three rescue units were deployed to deal with the aftermath of the attack. Around 8 a.m., he said that a woman had been killed in the morning attack.
“Three other people were injured, and contact has currently been lost with two others. An industrial facility was hit,” Kuzmenko wrote.
According to the latest reports from authorities, the death toll in the city has risen to two people.
According to him, the relevant services are currently working at the scene. Information about the consequences of the attack is still being clarified.
Zelensky urges more Patriot missiles
President Volodymyr Zelensky also responded to the attack, writing on Telegram that the death toll in Pryluky had risen to five.
“Today, for Putin’s birthday, the Russian army ‘gifted’ him the destruction of a residential building in Pryluky, Chernihiv region. Unfortunately, as of now, five people are known to have died, and 26 have been injured, including five children,” he wrote, adding that people could still be trapped under the rubble.
According to Zelensky, Russian missile attacks also damaged five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk, where two people were killed and eight injured.
A high-rise building in Zaporizhzhia was also damaged by a drone.
“In Kyiv, the Russians killed two people. Another two people died in Oleksandria. My condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims,” the president wrote, adding that infrastructure in Kyiv and 12 regions came under attack overnight.
According to Zelensky, one of the key targets was Ukraine’s energy sector.
“The Russians wanted to strike in a painful and demonstrative way. This was one of the most vile attacks: a total of 70 missiles, many of them ballistic, as well as ‘Shahed’ drones. Unfortunately, only a portion were shot down,” Zelensky wrote.
He added that Russian ballistic missiles remain the greatest challenge for Ukraine and said additional air defense systems were urgently needed.
“And air defense packages are a vital necessity for us right now. That is precisely why, every day, we are seeking Patriot missiles – missiles that can and must provide real protection for human lives here, in the Ukrainian skies,” he wrote.
Rescue operations underway at 8 locations across Ukraine
Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi later reported that emergency rescue operations were underway at eight locations across Kyiv and in the Kyiv region, as well as in the Kirovohrad, Chernihiv, and Poltava regions.
“This combined terrorist strike on Ukrainian cities has killed 12 people. More than 40 other civilians have been wounded,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to Vyhivskyi, rescuers and police officers in Pryluky were searching for missing people who may have been trapped under the rubble of a five-story apartment building.
“Six people have already died as a result of the enemy attack on the city, including an 8-year-old boy. Another 34 people, including five children, have been injured. The youngest girl is just three years old.”
“Residential buildings, a plumbing supply warehouse, a garage cooperative, shops – this strike once again targeted civilians, families sleeping in their homes. There was also no military purpose behind the shelling of one of the capital’s cemeteries,” Vyhivskyi added.
The minister said that it had been a difficult day for the Interior Ministry team as well, as a police officer was wounded in the attack on Pryluky.
“Her husband – who until recently had been fighting at the front as part of a police unit – and her mother were killed. Eternal memory to all the victims, and condolences to their families,” he wrote.
All units and necessary services continued to work at the sites of the attacks.
“We are also deploying units from neighboring regions to eliminate the aftermath of the attack as quickly as possible,” the minister added.
DSNS later reported that the death toll in Pryluky had risen to nine people, including three children.
“The rescue operation at the site where the multi-story residential building was struck is ongoing. Currently, 40 people are known to be injured, including seven children,” the report said.
Rescuers also managed to save 12 people, including a child. State Emergency Service psychologists are working at the scene and have provided assistance to 36 people.
Search-and-rescue operations and the clearing of destroyed structures are continuing without interruption.
Rescuers later reported that 14 people were killed in the Russian strike on Pryluky, including four children.
“Fifty people were injured, seven of them children. Emergency responders rescued 15 people, including one child,” the report added.
This news story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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