Russia slams Ukraine with missiles, drones on Putin's 74th birthday, at least 30 dead including 5 children

Key developments:

• Russia attacked cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones overnight on Oct. 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday.
• The attack killed at least 30 people and injured 117 throughout the country.
• A cruise missile struck an apartment building in Pryluky, Chernihiv Oblast, killing 22 people, including five children. At least 54 were injured.
• In Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, missile strikes killed two civilians and injured 47.
• Attacks in Kyiv killed at least four people and injured 13. Disruptions to the electricity and water supply have left many residents without water.
• Strikes in Oleksandriya, Kirovohrad Oblast, killed two people and injured three others.

At least 30 people have been killed and over 100 injured in yet another Russian overnight mass missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities on Oct. 7, coinciding with Russian President Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday.

In the city of Pryluky, in Chernihiv Oblast, a Russian cruise missile hit a residential building, killing at least 22 people, including five children, and wounding at least 54, including seven children, according to Ukraine's state emergency service (DSNS).

Three of the dead children, named Oleksandr, Kyrylo, and Serhiy, were only one year old, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media. The other child was an eight-year-old named Maksym, he added.

A fifth child was also killed by the Russian strike, DSNS said as of 7:13 p.m. local time.

"Today, as a 'birthday gift' to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region," Zelensky said.

"It was an ordinary five-story apartment block. There may still be people under the rubble. First responders are working nonstop at the site – doing everything possible to find every person," he added.

Chernihiv Oblast Governor Viacheslav Chaus said that on Putin's birthday, he hopes "the Russian dictator ends up in custody in The Hague or in hell."

"That is all he deserves."

'Never a morning like this' — Nightmare in Pryluky

Pryluky resident Halyna Osovyk, 55, woke up, and soon after, her flat was shaken by an explosion, she told the Kyiv Independent. Then came more strikes, smoke, and shattered windows. Across the road, two entrances of a neighboring apartment building were destroyed, and rescuers were searching the rubble for people.

The woman herself was still shaking as she spoke. Her hands and legs trembled.

"It was just sheer horror. And the sound of the missiles — you simply cannot put it into words," Osovyk said.

She knew some of those affected. One family was trapped under the debris – the mother, grandmother, and one child were killed, while another child was rescued and taken to the hospital. Another woman and her child were also pulled from the rubble and hospitalized, Osovyk said. As rescuers continued clearing the ruins, people waited for news of relatives who were still missing.

Pryluky had experienced Russian attacks before, she added, but never a morning like this. Asked what she would wish for Putin on his birthday, she replied: "I wish he could have what we are going through now."

Civilians under fire across Ukraine

Beyond the devastating attack in the northeastern town of Pryluky, the overnight assault targeted residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure in the country's central and southern regions.

Russian missile strikes damaged five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, Zelensky confirmed in a statement.

The ballistic and cruise missile strikes in Kremenchuk claimed two more lives.

Poltava Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that the people killed in Kremenchuk were a 72-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man. 47 civilians were injured in the city, said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of Poltava Oblast Military Administration.

Strikes also damaged a city community center, authorities said.

The city of Oleksandriya in Kirovohrad Oblast was also attacked in the early hours of Oct. 7. Regional Governor Andrii Raykovich reported that two people were killed and three injured, with one man remaining missing.

The Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, was also heavily targeted, as was southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where transport infrastructure was damaged amid the large-scale attack, officials reported.

Missiles 'one after another' in Kyiv

Russia's barrage on the capital killed at least four people and injured 13, while also causing massive disruptions to the city water supply.

The first deaths were reported in the Darnytskyi district, where city authorities said that two people were killed.

More casualties were reported in the following night and day as drones and missiles continued to strike the city.

Multiple explosions were first heard in Kyiv at around 3:15 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Ukraine's Air Force previously warned of several Russian Tu-95 bombers approaching the border.

"The missiles are falling one after another. At least 10-12 explosions from what I can count. It's pretty loud in the city center," the Kyiv Independent's Tim Zadorozhnyy reported.

Other Kyiv Independent journalists described strikes around Kyiv's Podil district, with flames and smoke seen in the capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a strike was reported at an unspecified "non-residential area" in the Obolon District, while warehouse facilities were hit in the Podil District.

Explosions were again heard two hours later at 5:15 a.m. amid a second wave of missile attacks.

Earlier, drones headed toward Ukraine's capital at 9 p.m. local time, Ukraine's Air Force reported, and an air raid alert was announced in the city shortly after, lasting from 9:09 p.m. until 9:58 p.m.

Drone attacks in the capital continued through the day on Oct. 7, injuring at least 13 people in the Obolon and Solomianskyi districts, Klitschko said. Six injured medical personnel have been hospitalized, including one woman in serious condition.

According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, a fire broke out on the first to third floors of a five-story residential building in the Solomianskyi district as a result of the drone attack. Firefighters rescued 12 people from the upper floors.

At 5:43 p.m. local time, Klitschko reported fallen debris on the roof of an administrative building in the Sviatoshynskyi district.

A woman's body was found at the site of the Russian attack in Obolonsky District. Klitschko said at 7:42 p.m. local time that in the district, a car near a residential building was on fire as a result of fallen drone debris.

The Kyiv City Military Administrationa also said that one man was also killed in the attack, without specifying the district.

Klitschko later added that after the attack, which disrupted the electricity supply in Kyiv, some water pumping stations lost power, and there were interruptions to the water supply on the western bank of the city.

Russian aerial terror

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces used a variety of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and drones in the overnight attack.

Out of an unspecified number of ballistic missiles launched at Ukraine, five were shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare, according to the Air Force.

Thirty-nine of 48 cruise missiles were confirmed shot down or suppressed as of 10 a.m. Kyiv time, 117 Russian attack drones were shot down or suppressed out of 130 launched.

Hits by Russian missiles and drones were recorded at 18 locations, according to the Air Force.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his Oct. 7 evening address, said that it is important that world leaders do not remain silent "in the face of what happened."

"...Russia intends to continue down this path: towards escalation, killings and attacks. Putin does not feel that this is causing him any problems. Real problems," he said.

Zelensky earlier in the day urged citizens to take air raid alerts seriously and warned that Russia is preparing a large-scale attack on Ukraine, citing recent intelligence.

"Please, please, take care of yourself. Please respond to signals of missile danger," he said.

The latest large-scale attack comes as Putin turns 74 years old on Oct. 7. The average male life expectancy in Russia is 68 years as of 2024, according to the World Bank Group.

Russia attacked Kyiv the previous night, damaging cars, and has targeted the city's key bridges in recent days.