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Russian Missile Strike Kills 19 Including Five Children in Ukraine
Confirmed
In Short: A Russian missile strike killed 19 people, including five children, in an apartment block in Pryluky, Ukraine, as families slept.
A Russian missile strike early Wednesday morning killed 19 people, including five children, in an apartment block in Pryluky, a town east of Kyiv, Ukraine.
Emergency workers continued to search for survivors under the rubble of the destroyed apartment building on Wednesday morning.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack one of the “most vile strikes” in the nearly five-year conflict, suggesting it was a “birthday gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 on Wednesday.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s “just responses” to Russian strikes saw it hit two oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara, and Astrakhan regions, as well as the Black Sea.
The air force reported intercepting five ballistic missiles, 39 cruise missiles, and over 100 drones launched by Russia during the night.
The number of casualties rose throughout the day as rescuers searched the rubble, with at least 24 people killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday.
In the occupied Kherson region, two people, including a teenage girl, were killed in a drone strike, according to the Moscow-backed head of the Russian-controlled zone.
Two more people were killed in a drone strike on a village near the Russia-annexed Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the Russian-installed mayor said.
The loss of life, especially among children, evoked a global outcry and calls for increased efforts to address the humanitarian needs of those affected by the war.
Zelensky emphasized that every Russian terrorist attack results in casualties that could have been prevented if the pressure on Russia had become total.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people had been killed and 26 others injured, including three children, in Kyiv following the attacks.
Moscow has often cited the “liberation” and “protection” of the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbas as justification for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What this adds
The global outcry over the loss of life, especially among children, highlights the humanitarian needs of those affected by the ongoing conflict.
What's confirmed
- “We grabbed our things and came here,” Iryna Rybalchenko, who works in a bank, told AFP, sitting on the platform wrapped in a dark hoodie and surrounded by bags.
- “I don’t see any military significance in this at all,” said Yuliia Shamrai, 31, who works in online marketing and lives near the stricken building in Pryluky.
- Zelensky, who called it “one of the most vile strikes” in the nearly five-year conflict, said some were shot down but ballistic missiles were “the greatest challenge” and new air defenses were essential.
- Russia launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones during the night against regions including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava, Ukraine’s air force said.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said three of the 18 victims of the strike were just 12 months old while another was aged eight.
- At least 24 people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday, including four young children who died when a missile slammed into an apartment block in the north of the country as they slept, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
What's still developing
- "Russian forces struck the Mykolaiv region in the evening. Four people were killed, including three children. According to preliminary information, two of the children were 11 years old and the third was 12. A store, pharmacy and post office caught fire. Our units are at the site of the attack, establishing all the circumstances," he said.
- Russian paramilitaries from Africa Corps, which is supporting Mali in its fight against insurgents, killed eight civilians, including three children, in June airstrikes, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Friday.
- The Russian army launched a “massive strike” upon Ukraine overnight in “another act of terror”.