Russia intensified missile and drone strikes across Ukrainian cities on Thursday, killing at least 78 people and injuring over 200 in a wave of attacks targeting civilian infrastructure.
In the deadliest single strike, a Russian Kh-101 missile hit a five-story apartment building in Pryluky, Chernihiv region, early on October 7, killing 22 people, including five children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, stating, “This is the kind of ‘gift’ Putin gave himself for his birthday. Killing children, killing people.” The victims included entire families, such as 58-year-old Viktoria Bondarenko, her daughter Kateryna Antypenko, and Kateryna’s 1-year-old son, Sasha .
On October 8, a Russian glide bomb struck two minibuses in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, killing at least 33 people and injuring 22 others, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said the attack set the buses ablaze, adding, “Russia comes to the Ukrainian land with death. She hits our cities, kills our people and multiplies her crimes every day.” Zelensky warned the death toll could rise as doctors treated the injured .
Simultaneously, Russian drone strikes on Kyiv killed four people, injured 19, and disrupted electricity and water supplies. A drone hit a commercial building in the Solomyanskyi district, while falling debris damaged infrastructure in Holosiivskyi district, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said . Power outages spread across the capital as Russia targeted energy facilities, with Ukrenergo reporting emergency blackouts in Kyiv and other regions .
Zelensky stated Ukraine would respond to the escalation, noting that Russia was “trying to destroy all life in Donbas” .
