Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sharply criticized Russia over a deadly overnight barrage on Ukraine that coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday, describing the destruction of a residential building in Pryluky as a “birthday gift” to Putin. At the time of Zelenskyy’s statement, five people had been reported killed and 26 injured, including five children.
“Today, as a birthday ‘gift’ to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. He said the building was an ordinary five-story apartment block and warned that people could still be trapped under the rubble as rescue teams continued search operations.
The attack came on October 7, Putin’s 74th birthday. Born in Leningrad in 1952, Putin has served as Russia’s president for multiple terms and has been the country’s central political figure for more than two decades. His birthday coincided with the latest large-scale Russian strikes across Ukraine.
According to Zelenskyy, Russian missile strikes also damaged five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk, where two people were killed and eight injured. A high-rise building in Zaporizhzhia was damaged by a drone, while two people were reported killed in Kyiv and another two in Oleksandriia.
Zelenskyy said infrastructure in Kyiv and 12 Ukrainian regions came under attack overnight, with energy infrastructure among the key targets. He said Russia launched about 70 missiles, including a significant number of ballistic missiles, along with attack drones.
Calling the assault one of the most severe attacks, Zelenskyy said Russia sought to strike Ukraine “painfully and demonstratively.” He also stressed that Russian ballistic missiles remain a major challenge for Ukrainian air defenses.
The Ukrainian president renewed his call for additional air-defense capabilities, particularly missiles for U.S.-made Patriot systems, saying they were urgently needed to protect civilians and Ukrainian cities.
Russia has said its strikes target military-industrial and other strategic facilities. The latest barrage, however, also caused significant damage to residential buildings and energy infrastructure across multiple Ukrainian regions.
Comments