Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone strike on Ukraine early on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people and damaging homes, industrial sites and energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The Russian strike on Ukraine came hours after Zelenskyy publicly warned that Moscow was preparing a “massive strike” — and on the day Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 74.
FAKTA: Key facts about the overnight strikes
- Death toll: At least 11 killed across Ukraine, according to President Zelenskyy; rescuers fear the toll may rise as rubble is cleared.
- Worst hit: A five-storey apartment building in Pryluky in the Chernihiv region, struck around 6 a.m.; the National Police said nine bodies had been recovered from the rubble, including three children.
- Kyiv: At least two people killed in residential areas; explosions were heard around 3:15 local time; many residents sheltered in the city’s metro stations.
- Other cities: Five apartment blocks damaged in Dnipro; four high-rise buildings hit in Kremenchuk, where two people were killed and eight injured; a drone damaged a high-rise in Zaporizhzhia; two deaths reported in Oleksandriia.
- Scale: About 130 drones, 48 cruise missiles and additional ballistic missiles fired, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said 161 targets were intercepted.
- Key target: Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, as winter approaches and temperatures begin to drop.
Zelenskyy had warned of the attack hours earlier
On Tuesday night, President Zelenskyy warned in a video posted to social media that intelligence showed Russia was preparing a major assault. The following hours bore out the warning: several explosions were heard across Kyiv, and Ukrainian officials and military intelligence urged residents to take shelter.
“One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure. The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “Ukraine has once again been hit by Russian missiles throughout the night,” added Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, calling it “another sleepless night, another act of terror”.
Districts and regions hit
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said strikes hit the capital’s southeast Darnytskyi district and the northwest Podilskyi district, where an office and warehouse building was destroyed in a fire triggered by the attack. Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region injured two people, the region’s governor said.
In Pryluky, about 150 kilometres east of Kyiv, a Russian missile slammed into the five-storey residential building, destroying at least two floors. Video images showed rescuers pulling people from beneath the wreckage, while local authorities warned more residents could still be buried under the rubble.
Pryluky bore the heaviest toll in the Russian strike on Ukraine
Zelenskyy framed the attack as a deliberate message, noting it fell on Putin’s 74th birthday. “Today, for Putin’s birthday, the Russian army ‘gifted’ him the destruction of a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region,” he said. “This was an ordinary five-story building.”
According to investigators, cruise missiles destroyed two entrances of the building and damaged other homes, a children and youth creativity centre, an enterprise and cars. A pre-trial investigation into a war crime causing fatalities has been opened under the procedural guidance of the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Energy grid targeted as winter nears
As in many previous attacks, a large share of the strikes was reportedly aimed at Ukraine’s electricity grid, disrupting power supplies as temperatures have begun to drop. The pattern fits Russia’s repeated winter-season campaigns against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which aim to leave civilians without heat and power. More coverage of Europe and the world is available at Watan News World.
Russia says it struck military-industrial sites
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out a “massive strike” on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions. It said the targets included sites where the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point manufactures and stores its Flamingo cruise missiles and medium and long-range drones.
The strike followed Ukraine’s announcement last week that it had fired its first domestically made ballistic missile in combat — the FP-7, produced by Fire Point. Zelenskyy released video of the launch on 1 October, calling it “Ukrainian tactical ballistics” and saying production would follow.
Ukraine’s retaliation and EU support
A day earlier, Ukraine carried out one of the biggest attacks of the war on Moscow and the surrounding region. Moscow’s mayor said more than 650 drones flew toward the capital between Monday evening and Tuesday morning; Russia’s Defence Ministry said nearly 900 drones were intercepted across the country. The Moscow region’s governor said two people were killed and 47 homes damaged, while unconfirmed reports said a major fuel depot was on fire.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine had also struck two Russian oil plants and a training ground over the past day. “These are justified Ukrainian responses to all Russian attacks on our people,” he said on social media.
On the diplomatic front, European support continued: last month the European Commission disbursed €3.3 billion for missiles and drones for Ukraine under its Ukraine Support Loan, following von der Leyen’s announcement on 17 September. “Europe is stepping up. Now others must step up their support too,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Read the full story on our main site: Russia launches massive overnight strike on Ukraine.
Conclusion
Rescue work continued in Pryluky on Wednesday morning, and officials warned the death toll could still rise. Zelenskyy renewed his plea for more air defence systems from allies, saying Ukraine is searching daily for Patriot missiles to counter Russian ballistic attacks. Watan News will continue to follow developments as they are confirmed.
