At least four Ukrainian children among multiple killed in Russia’s latest missile barrage

Local residents look at rescuers working on a multi-floor residential building destroyed following a Russian aerial strike in Pryluky on Oct. 7, 2026, Photo by GENYA SAVILOV /AFP via Getty Images

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At least 20 people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday, including 14 when a missile slammed into an apartment block in the north of the country as they slept.

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Windows shattered in the powerful blast in Pryluky, in the Chernigiv region, reducing one half of the building into a smoking pile of charred concrete and twisted metal.

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“We were at home, sleeping,” said Olena Sayun, a 40-year-old massage therapist. “Our windows blew out. Thank God, we covered the child with our bodies. My husband got a few cuts on his back and I did too…

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“The child just had a nervous breakdown, got very scared. We immediately ran to the bathroom and then, while everything in the apartment was being blown apart, we stayed in there.”

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Emergency services who picked through the debris hunting for survivors said four children were among the 14 killed. They said 50 people had been wounded, including seven children.

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One child was among 15 rescued, they added.

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“All our kids are about the same age — 10, 8, 14, 11,” Sayun told AFP. “They all played in our courtyard, on the playground, every single day. We knew them all very well.”

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Rescuers move a body at the site of a Russian aerial strike at a multi-floor residential building in Pryluky on Oct. 7. Photo by GENYA SAVILOV /AFP via Getty Images

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The strike, which locals said happened at about 6:30 a.m., came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday warned of a “massive” Russian attack, particularly targeting energy infrastructure.

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“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” he said on Wednesday, calling it “one of the most vile strikes” in the nearly five-year conflict.

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Two people were killed when missiles slammed into high-rise buildings in Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, while two others lost their lives in Oleksandriya, he added.

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In the capital, Kyiv, two people died in a fire caused by a strike in the densely populated Darnytskyi neighbourhood, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

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Air raid sirens

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Kyiv has come under increased attack in recent weeks as winter approaches, with air raid sirens wailing nearly constantly to warn of incoming Russian strikes.

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Residents hunkered down in subway stations overnight, hauling duffel bags, sleeping mats and blankets, after air alerts sounded warning of attacks.

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“We grabbed our things and came here, we live right next door,” Iryna Rybalchenko, who works in a bank, told AFP, sitting on the platform wrapped in a dark hoodie and surrounded by bags.

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“The whole of Kyiv is in a state of fear. We were stuck at work today and everyone — our group chats, our bosses — were messaging us to be careful.”

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Rescuers working among burnt-out cars and damaged buildings at a civilian infrastructure site in Kyiv following a Russian missile strike. Photo by HANDOUT /Ukraine's State Emergency Servic

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Russia launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones overnight against several regions including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava, Ukraine’s air force said.

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Zelensky said that although some were shot down, ballistic missiles were “the greatest challenge,” and new air defences were essential to help Ukraine defend itself.