Russian strikes kill dozens across Ukraine as winter looms

Russia launched a massive wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine on October 7, President Vladimir Putin's birthday, killing at least 28 people nationwide according to Ukraine's National Police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi. The deadliest single strike hit a five-story apartment building in Pryluky, Chernihiv region, where 22 people died, including five children as young as 12 months old.

A day later, a Russian guided bomb exploded beside passenger buses at a stop in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18. City officials said subsequent drone attacks hampered rescue efforts. The NZZ live blog later reported the Kramatorsk toll rising to 35 after an evening drone strike killed two more people in a car.

“This is the kind of birthday present that Putin gave himself: the killing of children, the killing of people.”

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 161 missiles and drones during the October 7 barrage, which targeted Kyiv and 12 other regions including Kharkiv, Poltava, and Dnipropetrovsk. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it "one of the most vile strikes" and warned of further escalation as winter approaches.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 650 Ukrainian drones targeted the Moscow region overnight into October 6, with 105 shot down approaching the capital. Ukraine's Defense Ministry claimed its recent refinery strikes have disabled 51% of Russia's oil refining capacity, a figure Putin acknowledged had cost Russia about 1% of GDP.

Emergency power outages were imposed in Kyiv and surrounding areas after strikes damaged energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy, visiting Pryluky with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, appealed for NATO to supply anti-ballistic missile capabilities, aircraft ammunition, and interceptor investments.