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Russian Missile Strike Kills at Least 20 in Pryluky, Ukraine

7:08 PM ETConfirmed

World Desk

In Short: Russian missiles struck Pryluky, a city in northern Ukraine, early Wednesday morning, killing at least 20 people, including five children, according to multiple reports.

Russian missiles struck Pryluky, a city in northern Ukraine, early Wednesday morning, killing at least 20 people, including five children, according to multiple reports. The attack targeted a residential building, reducing part of a five-story structure to rubble.

Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and Kuwaittimes reported that at least 20 people were killed, including five children, while the Kyiv Post (Ukraine) stated that 19 people died, including three one-year-old boys and two older children. The Morning Star | The People’s Daily (United Kingdom) initially reported at least eight deaths but later revised the toll to at least 26.

The attack occurred around 6:30 a.m. local time, as residents were waking up. Halyna Osovyk, a 55-year-old resident, told the Kyiv Independent that she felt her flat shaken by an explosion shortly after waking up.

Emergency workers continued to search for survivors under the rubble of the apartment building in Pryluky. The National Police of Ukraine reported that the death toll had risen to nine, including three children, and later to 19, with another child's body recovered in the evening.

Local officials in Pryluky announced three days of mourning from October 7-9. The attack has left the city in a state of fear, with residents hunkering down in subway stations overnight to avoid incoming strikes.

The attack has drawn condemnation from local residents and officials. Yuliia Shamrai, a 31-year-old resident who works in online marketing, said, “I don’t see any military significance in this at all.”

While the exact number of casualties varies slightly among reports, all outlets agree that the attack killed at least 20 people, including five children, and damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Pryluky, Ukraine.

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 · 4:09 PM ET In Short: Sybiha wrote on X, 'On Putin’s birthday, Russian generals brought him his favorite present: war crimes.' He added that Russia had lost 1.6 million troops without achieving any strategic goals.

Pryluky resident Halyna Osovyk, 55, reported feeling her flat shaken by an explosion shortly after waking up.

Background

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.
• 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.
• The bodies of three children have been recovered from the rubble of a residential building in Pryluky, Ukraine, following a Russian missile strike.
• Windows shattered in the powerful blast in Pryluky, in the Chernigiv region, reducing half of the five-storey building to a smoking pile of charred concrete and twisted metal.
• The strike, which locals said happened at about 6.30 am (0330 GMT), came after Zelensky on Tuesday warned of a “massive” Russian attack, particularly targeting energy infrastructure.
• "Today, as a 'birthday gift' to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region," Zelensky said.

What's still developing

• Pryluky, around 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Kyiv in the Chernihiv region, was among several Ukrainian cities targeted in Russia’s overnight missile and drone barrage.
• “This is exactly what Moscow chooses despite all our efforts with our partners to bring peace closer,” he said, calling for increased pressure on Russia and more military aid for Ukraine.
• Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said it was one of Russia's "most vile strikes", and suggested the Russian military had carried it out as a "birthday gift" to Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 on Wednesday.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky said three of the 18 victims of the strike were just 12 months old while another was aged eight.
• "The missiles are falling one after another. At least 10-12 explosions from what I can count. It's pretty loud in the city center," the Kyiv Independent's Tim Zadorozhnyy reported.

Sources

• Arabnewslink
• Caspianpostlink
• Englishlink
• IntelliNewslink
• Kyiv Postlink
• Kyivindependentlink
• Morning Star | The People’s Dailylink
• Winnipegsunlink
• BBClink
• Kuwaittimeslink
• Kyivindependentlink
• Enlink
• AFPlink
• Warpbeatlink
• Trtworldlink
• WarpBeat — background on Russian Missile Strike Kills 19 Including Five Children in Ukraine link
• Guardian News — video link