Putin’s Birthday Strikes Kill at Least 32 Ukrainians, Including 5 Children, as More Bodies Found in Kyiv

Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday, Oct. 7 – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday – killed at least 32 people, including five children, as rescuers recovered more bodies from destroyed residential buildings in Kyiv and Pryluky early Thursday.

The updated death toll followed the discovery of two bodies inside a drone-hit apartment building in Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district and additional fatalities beneath the rubble of a five-story residential building in Pryluky, Chernihiv Oblast.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) reported Thursday morning that the death toll in Pryluky had risen to 22, while the discovery of two additional victims in Kyiv brought the reported toll from the capital’s latest attacks to four. 

Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi had reported 28 deaths nationwide Wednesday evening, before the latest discoveries.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attacks, which coincided with Putin’s birthday.

“Such a ‘gift’ Putin gave himself for his birthday. The killing of children, the killing of people,” the Ukrainian leader said in his evening address.

“It is in his interest to wage war. War is his nature, his ideology,” he added.

Five children among 22 killed in Pryluky

The deadliest attack struck Pryluky in Chernihiv Oblast, where a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile hit a five-story residential building, causing sections of the structure to collapse as families were inside.

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By Thursday morning, the death toll had risen to 22, including five children. Three of those killed were just one year old.

Around 55 people were injured, according to regional authorities.

Rescuers worked through the night, searching collapsed floors and shattered apartments for survivors.

Emergency workers used ladders to reach the upper floors of the damaged building, bringing 15 people to safety as rescue operations continued.

Photographs from the scene showed excavators and emergency crews clearing piles of concrete and twisted metal where apartments had stood.

“There’s a lot of destruction, especially in the town centre,” Pryluky Deputy Mayor Danylo Savenko told Reuters, describing how he and his wife had rushed into a shelter after hearing incoming missiles.

Interior Minister Vyhivskyi also described the rescue of a five-year-old girl and her mother, who were thrown from their apartment by the force of the explosion.

DSNS squad commander Pavlo Levchenko helped pull them from the wreckage and carried the child to safety.

The attack also damaged a gas pipeline, temporarily leaving more than 18,000 residents without gas.

Kyiv Post previously reported on the children killed in Pryluky, including three one-year-old boys.

Two more bodies discovered in Kyiv

The death toll from Russian attacks on Kyiv also increased early Thursday, Oct. 8, after rescuers discovered two bodies inside a damaged apartment in the capital’s Desnianskyi district.

According to the State Emergency Service, a Russian drone struck a 12-story residential building near the 10th floor, sparking a fire and partially destroying structural elements.

Four people were injured, including two children, while firefighters rescued 22 residents, eight of them children.

The discovery followed two deaths reported in Obolonskyi district during Wednesday evening’s attacks, where falling drone debris set parked vehicles ablaze in the courtyard of a residential building.

Earlier Wednesday, Kyiv had also come under ballistic missile attack, with explosions reported across the capital shortly after 3 a.m.

Russian drones struck a five-story residential building in Solomianskyi district later that day, setting the first three floors on fire and injuring eight residents.

Debris also damaged buildings in other districts as emergency crews responded to fires and destruction.

Kyiv Post has reported on the Russian attacks across Kyiv, including the latest discovery of two bodies in Desnianskyi district.

Russian strikes hit Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia

The Russian bombardment extended across multiple Ukrainian regions, damaging residential buildings, industrial facilities and energy infrastructure.

In Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Russian missiles and drones killed two people and injured dozens more, according to local authorities.

Oleksandriia in Kirovohrad Oblast was also among the cities where fatalities were reported.

Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched 70 missiles, including ballistic weapons, and dozens of attack drones during the large-scale assault.

Air defenses intercepted a majority of the drones, but Zelensky warned that Russia’s ballistic missiles remained particularly difficult to stop.

He said Ukraine was urgently seeking additional Patriot air defense systems to protect civilian lives.

In his evening address, Zelensky accused Moscow of continuing to escalate its war despite diplomatic efforts to secure peace.

“This is exactly what Moscow chooses despite all our efforts with our partners to bring peace closer,” he said.

He urged international leaders not to remain silent over Russian attacks on civilians and called for stronger economic and military pressure on the Kremlin.

Zelensky also criticized discussions about easing sanctions against Russian oligarchs, warning that Moscow still had access to financial resources needed to sustain the war.

“Putin still does not feel that this is creating real problems for him,” he said.

He argued that Russia’s continued ability to export oil and conduct international financial transactions showed that sanctions pressure remained insufficient.

“And this is not only Ukraine’s problem, not only our problem, and not only the problem of our people and our children. It is a problem for everyone in Europe and the Western world,” Zelensky said.

As rescue crews continued searching the wreckage of destroyed Ukrainian homes on Thursday, the death toll from Russia’s Oct. 7 attacks climbed to at least 32 – leaving families mourning children and loved ones killed on Putin’s 74th birthday.