‘Putin birthday gift’: 25 civilians killed by strikes on Ukraine
Updated . First published at
At least 25 civilians, including five children, have been killed in a Russian air strike launched at an apartment block in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing in an X post, gave an updated casualty figure from the attack by missiles and drones on the city of Pryluky in the country’s central region.
Rescuers carry out an injured man from an apartment building in Pryluky, Ukraine, hit during a Russian air attack on Wednesday, October 7. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Three of the children were aged one and another was eight. About 100 civilians were wounded.
The Ukrainian leader said Russia launched the onslaught to coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday on Wednesday, October 7.
“This is the ‘gift’ that Putin gave himself for his birthday: the killing of children, the killing of people,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address.
Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian authorities had been warned by their intelligence service the Kremlin was planning a “massive” attack, but were unable to halt it.
Air defence systems shot down 44 missiles and 117 Iranian designed drones launched by Russia, but others got through, he said.
One of the homes destroyed by the Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Pryluky. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP )
The deaths and damage highlight the difficulty Ukraine has in countering Russia’s ballistic missiles and the new jet-powered drones used in Moscow’s escalating bombardments.
Without ammunition for its US-made Patriot air defence systems, Ukraine can’t stop Russian ballistic weapons. It is racing to develop a new generation of interceptors fast enough to catch Moscow’s high-flying jet-propelled drones.
Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a long-range aerial war as their armies remain largely deadlocked on the battlefield, more than four-and-a-half years after Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour. The unrelenting aerial attacks are hurting Russia but could be ruinous for smaller Ukraine.
Peace talks, led by the United States, appear unlikely to bring any short-term relief.
Putin, meanwhile, is pressing ahead with the war in the belief that Ukrainians will buckle under the pressure and Kyiv’s Western supporters won’t stay the course, Western analysts say.
- With The Associated Press
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