Russia kills at least 24 in sweeping Ukraine barrage after Kyiv warned attack was coming
Rescue teams search the wreckage of a building hit during Russia’s latest missile and drone barrage across Ukraine.(Image courtesy: X/@GlushkoDenys)
New Delhi: Russia launched a major overnight missile and drone attack across Kyiv and at least a dozen other Ukrainian regions on Wednesday, killing at least 24 civilians, including four children, and wounding around 60. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had warned a day earlier that Ukrainian intelligence detected preparations for a “massive” Russian strike.
One of the deadliest strikes destroyed sections of a five-storey residential building in Pryluky in the northern Chernihiv region, where the death toll later rose to 18, including the four children. Fatalities were also reported in Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia, while industrial, transport and residential infrastructure was damaged elsewhere.
“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” Zelenskyy said.
The barrage also coincided with Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday, a point highlighted by Zelenskyy as he condemned the overnight strikes. There was no independent evidence that the timing of the attack was linked to the occasion.
Energy infrastructure was also hit, prompting emergency power restrictions in several regions as rescue and restoration operations continued.
Warning came before the barrage
“There is updated intelligence indicating that Russia is preparing a massive attack,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday. He said Ukrainian services and the air force were prepared to respond “to the extent permitted by our available means of defence”, while stressing Kyiv’s continued dependence on military assistance from its partners.
The warning did not mean Ukraine knew every intended target or could intercept every incoming weapon. Zelenskyy said Russia fired 70 missiles, many of them ballistic, while Ukraine’s air force reported improved performance against a newer generation of jet-powered drones, downing or suppressing more than 80 per cent of the 46 launched.
Ukraine is also working on a new generation of interceptors capable of engaging faster jet-powered drones, while continuing to seek additional Patriot ammunition for ballistic-missile defence.
Ballistic missiles remain the more difficult threat. Zelenskyy described them as Ukraine’s “greatest challenge” and renewed his appeal for additional US-made Patriot interceptors, whose global supply remains under pressure.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces carried out a “massive strike” using land, sea and air launched weapons and drones against military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other regions. It said targets included facilities linked to Ukrainian missile and drone production as well as port and ship repair infrastructure in the Odesa region and vessels allegedly supporting Ukraine’s armed forces. Those claims were not independently verified.
Ukraine also reported retaliatory strikes inside Russia. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces hit two oil facilities and a military training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions, while Russian officials did not immediately confirm the reported damage.
The latest exchange comes as both sides increasingly rely on long-range missiles and drones while ground fighting remains comparatively static. Kyiv continues to seek more Patriot ammunition as Russian ballistic missiles and faster attack drones place sustained pressure on Ukraine’s air-defence network.
