Russian strikes kill at least 25 in Ukraine as Pryluky death toll rises
Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine killed at least 25 people, with 19 dead, including five children, in an apartment block in Pryluky as rescue work continues.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Russia launched a massive missile and drone attack across Ukraine overnight, killing at least 25 people and damaging homes and energy infrastructure. The confirmed death toll rose through the day as rescue teams worked through rubble in Pryluky, a town in the Chernihiv region, where a missile partially destroyed a five-storey apartment block. At least 19 people died there, including five children, and more than a dozen were injured. Emergency workers recovered 15 survivors, one of them a child, but a number of residents remain unaccounted for.
Strikes were reported in several regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia. In Kyiv, at least two residents were killed and warehouses were damaged; part of a missile failed to explode and had to be made safe. In Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, residential buildings were badly damaged, at least two people were killed and more than 30 were injured. Ukraine's air force said Russia fired drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 70 missiles and Shahed drones were launched, and only some were shot down. He had warned the night before that intelligence pointed to a massive attack, and he again called for more Patriot missiles and interceptors to defend Ukrainian cities.
Russia's defence ministry said it carried out a massive strike on military and industrial facilities using high-precision land, sea and air-launched weapons. Ukrainian authorities called the Pryluky attack a war crime, and Zelensky described the overnight strikes as a birthday gift from Russia's armed forces to Vladimir Putin. Civilians appeared to bear the brunt of the attack. The UN says more people have already died in Ukraine this year than in the previous 12 months.
Zelensky said energy infrastructure was one of Russia's key targets. The country has regularly attacked power plants and the grid, and Kyiv accuses Moscow of using winter and cold weather as weapons to increase pressure and force Ukraine towards a peace deal on Russian terms. As air raid alerts sounded, families took shelter in metro stations. Ukraine is short of defensive missiles, and its forces are deploying a new AI-powered anti-aircraft weapon to try to shoot down Russian missiles.
Ukraine also struck back. An oil tanker said to be part of Russia's shadow fleet was hit in the Black Sea off the Russian resort of Sochi, apparently by a Ukrainian naval drone. Black smoke hung over the city and the Indian crew were rescued. Ukraine says its attacks on Russian energy targets are a response to nightly Russian drone and missile attacks. In a separate incident, several crew members were rescued after two ships were hit by air and sea drones in the Black Sea off Bulgaria. Others remain missing, and Ukraine accused Russia of carrying out those attacks. Bulgaria, like other EU and NATO members, said it must rearm.
Political reaction focused on the wider war. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's former deputy prime minister and an adviser to Zelensky, said Russia could not win on the battlefield and that Ukraine had held the line and pushed Russian forces back. She accused Russia of committing war crimes, rejected the idea that Ukraine and Russia should be judged equally, and said Western sanctions had not gone far enough. She also criticised the White House for not being neutral, called Putin's invitation to the G20 a mistake, and said Europe had a major role in supporting Ukraine.
A Ukrainian MP said no part of the country was safe. Speaking from Lviv, he said a Russian drone had hit a family home nearby, killing three daughters and a wife. He warned that smaller towns such as Pryluky do not have the same shelter and alert systems as Kyiv. Ukraine had withstood previous winters, he said, but the cost of letting Russia win would be the destruction of the country.
As winter approaches, cities have become the front line. With defensive missiles running short, many Ukrainians see going underground as their only protection.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by a few · 2 channels | |||
| In Pryluky, a missile partially destroyed a five-storey apartment block and killed 16 people, including four children. | Not reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Russia said it launched a massive strike against targets across Ukraine, including Kyiv and Odessa. | Not reported by BBC News | ||
| Russian overnight air strikes killed at least 22 people across Ukraine. | Not reported by Channel 4 | ||
| Zelensky called for more Patriot missiles and said energy infrastructure was one of Russia's key targets. | Not reported by BBC One | ||
| Only on one channel | |||
| Residential buildings were struck in the attack, killing at least 19 people, including three children. | Not reported by BBC News | Not reported by BBC One | |
| Ukraine's air force reported that Russia used drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles in the attacks. | Not reported by BBC One | Not reported by Channel 4 | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 treated the strikes as part of a widening war, pairing a straight account of the missile and drone attack with reaction from Chrystia Freeland and a focus on Ukrainian drones hitting Russian energy shipping. Its tone was analytical and international, stressing that cities are now the front line and that the conflict is spreading beyond Ukraine.
- “At least 24 people have been killed.”
- “Russian missiles have pounded cities across Ukraine in what President Zelensky described as vile strikes on his country.”
- “What we used to call the front line in the east has scarcely moved for months. The cities are the front line now.”
BBC News gave rolling live coverage from Kyiv, focusing on the scale of the nationwide attack, rescue work in Pryluky, and Ukraine's shortage of interceptors. It also interviewed a Ukrainian MP, who said no part of Ukraine is safe and warned that smaller towns lack Kyiv's shelter and alert systems.
- “Russian air strikes have killed at least 22 people across Ukraine overnight.”
- “In Pryluky, a town in the north, a missile partially destroyed a five-storey apartment block, killing 16 people, including four children.”
- “No part of Ukraine is relieved of it.”
BBC ONE West led on the rising death toll and the Pryluky apartment block, using James Landale's package to describe the strike as a possible war crime. Its bulletins updated the toll from 24 to 25, and it placed the attack in the wider pattern of winter strikes, UN casualty figures, and Ukrainian retaliation at sea.
- “At least 24 people are now known to have been killed in the latest Russian air strikes across Ukraine.”
- “At least 25 people are known to have died in the latest round of Russian airstrikes across Ukraine.”
- “Rescue workers are continuing to search the rubble of a block of flats destroyed in the town of Pryluky, where 19 people have died, including five children.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.