At least 15 people have been killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine, including nine people who died after a missile destroyed a five-storey apartment building in Pryluky, in the northern Chernihiv region.
Emergency crews searched through the rubble for survivors as the scale of the destruction became clear. Police said the death toll in Pryluky had risen to nine by late morning, with three children among those killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned the public overnight that Russia was preparing a massive wave of attacks, particularly targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. He said the strikes were intended to inflict widespread damage and described the assault as one of the most severe of the nearly five-year war.
Two people were also killed when missiles struck high-rise buildings in Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, while two others died in Oleksandriya. In the capital, Kyiv, two people were killed in separate strikes.
The attacks come as Russia intensifies its aerial campaign against Ukraine ahead of winter, with Kyiv facing increasingly frequent bombardments.
Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly overnight, sending residents into subway stations with bags, sleeping mats and blankets as they sought shelter from the strikes.
