Russian attack on Ukraine kills at least 28
A cruise missile destroyed an apartment block in Pryluky, the hardest-hit town, while Kyiv lost power and water in part of the city.
Russian missiles and drones struck Ukraine between the night of Oct. 6 and the early hours of Oct. 7, in one of the largest combined attacks of the war. Areas hit include Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipro and Kharkiv. The deadliest strike fell on Pryluky, a city in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine.
There, a cruise missile flattened a five-story apartment block. The Kyiv Independent counted 19 to 20 dead, at least five of them children, and 55 injured, as rescuers kept searching the rubble. Emergency services cited by Al Jazeera had reported at least 14 at an earlier count.
Nationwide, the Ukrainian outlet's tally, based on authorities' data, stands at at least 28 dead. Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reported at least 20 hours earlier. In Kremenchuk, in Poltava, two people died and about 40 were injured, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. In Kyiv at least three people died, and some pumping stations lost power, leaving parts of the west bank without water, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 130 drones and 48 cruise missiles, plus ballistic missiles, and that air defenses neutralized 161 targets. Zelensky spoke of 70 missiles. There were impacts at 18 locations.
Zelensky said one of the key targets was the energy infrastructure and that Moscow wanted to hit "painfully and demonstratively." Of Pryluky, he said the Russian army destroyed the building as a "birthday gift" for Putin, who turned 74 on Oct. 7.
Moscow, through its Defense Ministry, called the attack a "massive strike" and said it hit missile and drone plants and ports in Odesa. There is no independent confirmation of those targets.
The toll keeps changing: the figures for Pryluky and for the total varied during the day and all come from Ukrainian authorities. The final count from Ukraine's State Emergency Service is still pending.
