Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on October 7 resulted in at least 28 fatalities, including five children who died in an early morning attack on an apartment building in Pryluky, located in the Chernihiv region. The building was severely damaged, with one half reduced to rubble following a missile strike at approximately 6:30 a.m.

Among the children killed were three infants aged 12 months, an eight-year-old, and another child whose body was recovered from the debris later in the day, according to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian officials reported that 20 of the total deaths occurred in the Pryluky strike alone, and dozens more, including seven children, were wounded. Zelensky condemned the attack as a deliberate act of terror targeting civilian areas.

Eyewitnesses described the force of the blast shattering windows and causing extensive destruction. One local resident, Olena Savyun, recounted how her family sought shelter in a bathroom as the explosion tore through their apartment. “The child just had a nervous breakdown, got very scared,” she said.

The attacks followed warnings from Zelensky of an impending escalation focused on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Other casualties were reported elsewhere in the country, including two deaths resulting from a missile strike on a high-rise building in Kremenchuk, and further fatalities in Oleksandriya. In Kyiv, two people died in a fire triggered by a strike in the densely populated Darnytskyi district, with two additional deaths reported from subsequent attacks, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Air raid sirens sounded frequently over Kyiv amid intensifying missile and drone attacks as winter approaches. Residents sought shelter in subway stations, carrying supplies to wait out the strikes. Iryna Rybalkenko, a Kyiv local, described the heightened atmosphere of fear gripping the city.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian forces launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones against multiple regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava. While some missiles and drones were intercepted, Zelensky highlighted the particular threat posed by ballistic missiles, stressing the need for enhanced air defense systems to counter the attacks.

In the Russia-controlled Kherson region, a drone strike killed two people, including a teenage girl, according to the local Moscow-installed administration. Additional fatalities were reported near Donetsk in Russian-annexed territory following other drone strikes.

Zelensky also noted Ukraine’s retaliatory strikes targeting Russian assets, including oil facilities and military training grounds in the Perm, Samara, and Astrakhan regions, as well as locations along the Black Sea. Both sides have reported rising civilian casualties amid the intensifying conflict.