Eight killed, including two children, in Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine
Russian missile and drone attacks killed eight people, among them two girls, and injured several others in multiple Ukrainian cities, prompting alerts from officials and a defensive response from Poland.
Eight people were killed in a series of Russian missile and drone strikes that hit several locations in Ukraine on Thursday, local officials said. Two of the dead were children – a 5-year-old and a 12-year-old – who died when a ballistic missile struck a private house in a village near the central city of Kryvyi Rih. Eight others were wounded in the same attack, including two children, and authorities said the casualty count could rise.
In Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko reported one fatality and fires in three non-residential buildings. The mayor of Poltava also confirmed a death after a Nova Poshta postal terminal was hit. In Lviv, mayor Andriy Sadovyi said explosions damaged residential buildings and left some residents trapped under rubble, with locals assisting rescue crews.
The Ukrainian military said missile and drone strikes were heard in other cities, including western regions. President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier warned of a possible large-scale attack and urged citizens to follow air-raid alerts. Poland responded by mobilising its military aircraft as a preventative measure.
Separately, a regional official in Russia’s Penza reported an overnight attack on a retailer’s warehouse, a site that has been targeted in recent Ukrainian operations.