At least 21 civilians, including four children, were killed when Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv and about a dozen other Ukrainian regions overnight, according to the latest figures reported by the Associated Press from Ukrainian authorities.
The updated toll is substantially higher than the 11 deaths initially reported on Wednesday. Rescue work and casualty verification continued during the day, producing successive revisions.
The deadliest known strike hit Pryluky in the northern Chernihiv region, where a missile destroyed sections of a five-storey apartment building. AP reported that 15 people were killed there and about 50 were wounded. Reuters, in an earlier update, put the Pryluky toll at 14 and the nationwide count at 20. The difference appears to reflect the timing of reports from local authorities as emergency crews searched the rubble.
Deaths were also recorded in Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Oleksandria. In Kremenchuk, two people were killed and seven injured, while rescue operations continued, AP reported.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 70 missiles, many of them ballistic, alongside waves of drones. He described ballistic missiles as Ukraine’s greatest air-defence challenge and renewed his call for additional Patriot interception systems.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted more than 80% of 46 jet-powered drones launched during the attack. Officials did not immediately explain the improved interception rate compared with recent weeks.
The bombardment damaged residential buildings, industrial sites and energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry introduced partial emergency electricity cuts in five regions following the strikes.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed conducting what it called a “massive strike,” but said its targets were military-industrial facilities involved in producing and storing Ukrainian missiles and drones, along with port and ship-repair infrastructure. Those claims do not account for the independently documented damage to residential buildings and could not be fully verified.
Ukraine also said it struck two Russian oil facilities and a military training ground during the preceding 24 hours. Separately circulated images were said to show a burning tanker near Sochi, but AP reported that the images and claims surrounding that incident had not been independently verified.
The increased death toll makes the attack one of the deadliest recent Russian aerial operations against Ukraine. It also underscores the continuing shortage of air-defence ammunition as Ukraine seeks to protect its population and energy network from long-range attacks before winter.
