Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities kill at least 8

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles and drones hit residential and civilian sites in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight into Wednesday, killing at least eight people, Ukrainian officials said.

The attacks came the morning after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on X that Russia was preparing a massive strike.

In the northern city of Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region, a missile struck a high-rise apartment building, and there were reports of dead and injured, said Viacheslav Chaus, head of the regional military administration. All services were at the site, and rubble removal was ongoing.

At least four people were killed there and 20 injured, including three children, according to preliminary information from the State Emergency Service. Chaus posted photos showing one entrance of the apartment building partially collapsed.

In Kyiv, ballistic missiles hit the capital, with explosions heard across the city center at around 3 a.m., and two people were killed, the city military administration said.

A rocket struck a nonresidential building in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district and sparked a fire, while another strike set a garage complex ablaze in the Darnytskyi district, where the fire was extinguished and debris also fell in a nearby open area, the military administration said.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said the broader Kyiv region was also subject to a combined attack involving drones and ballistic missiles. In the Obukhiv district, three production and storage facilities were damaged, he said.

In Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, two people were killed and seven injured, said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the regional military administration, and a rescue operation was continuing.

“That is exactly what the enemy is counting on. For us to be afraid to fall asleep. To let our children out of our sight. To plan anything. So that everyone thinks: next time it could be my address,” he said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military carried out a massive strike overnight targeting industrial facilities involved in production and storage of Flamingo missiles and drones across Ukraine. The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim. Russian forces frequently strike residential areas, power grids, and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine despite Moscow’s insistence that it targets only military sites.

It said the attack targeted facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. The ministry said that port and ship repair facilities in the Odesa region and ships carrying cargo for the Ukrainian military were also hit.