Nineteen people, including at least five children, were killed early Wednesday when a Russian missile tore into an apartment block in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky, officials said. Volodymyr Zelensky condemned it as among Russia’s “most vile strikes” and said it was the Russian military’s “birthday gift” to Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 the same day, the BBC reports. Three of the children were one-year-olds; rescuers spent hours pulling bodies from the rubble of the five-story building. More than 50 residents were injured and 30 apartments were destroyed.
“This is the ‘gift’ that Putin gave himself for his birthday: the killing of children, the killing of people,” Zelensky said.
Moscow said it had carried out a “massive strike” on Ukrainian military industries in Kyiv and other cities. Ukraine reported at least 25 people killed nationwide, damage to hundreds of homes, and renewed hits on energy infrastructure. Kyiv says it intercepted most of roughly 70 missiles and over 100 drones and carried out its own strikes on Russian oil and military targets, including in the Black Sea region. Analysts say the aerial attacks are hurting both countries, but Moscow believes Kyiv will fold under the pressure, the AP reports. “Russia is pursuing a deliberate strategy of terror,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Trying to make daily life impossible for Ukrainians who want to live in peace.”