Zelensky Accuses Russia of 'Vile' Birthday Strike as Overnight Attacks Kill at Least 15 Across Ukraine

At least 15 people have been killed in a wave of overnight missile and drone strikes across central and eastern Ukraine, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky described as one of Russia's "most vile" attacks since the war began.

The bombardment, which Zelensky said involved roughly 70 missiles, struck multiple cities and towns including Kyiv, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandriya and the northern town of Pryluky in the Chernihiv region. The strikes came on the eve of Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday, prompting Zelensky to characterise the assault as a macabre "birthday gift" to the Russian leader.

The deadliest single incident occurred in Pryluky, where a five-storey apartment building was destroyed. In an initial assessment posted on social media on Wednesday morning, Zelensky said five people had been killed and 26 injured, including five children. He warned that residents could still be trapped beneath the rubble as rescue operations continued.

Chernihiv regional police later confirmed a significantly higher toll, reporting that nine people had died after the bodies of three children were recovered from the debris. Emergency workers remained at the scene throughout Wednesday morning, searching for survivors and recovering victims.

The attack on Pryluky has become the focal point of international outrage, with images from the scene showing emergency personnel digging through collapsed concrete and twisted metal in a desperate effort to reach those buried underneath. Video posted by Ukrainian police showed rescuers working amid the ruins of the residential block, while other verified footage from the wider region depicted damaged cars, fallen trees and debris strewn across areas surrounded by apartment buildings.

In Dnipro, a major industrial hub in central-eastern Ukraine, two people were killed and eight wounded after Russian missiles damaged five apartment buildings, according to Zelensky. Four high-rise buildings were also hit in Kremenchuk, an oil-refining city on the Dnipro River, where two more people died. Two fatalities were reported in the capital, Kyiv, and another two in Oleksandriya, a city in the Kirovohrad region.

In Kyiv, Ukraine's national police published photographs showing what they identified as an unexploded Russian Iskander missile lying in the middle of a residential district. BBC Verify confirmed the images were authentic and that the apparent missile fragments had landed in an open area surrounded by high-rise apartment blocks, underscoring the indiscriminate nature of the strikes on populated urban areas.

Zelensky said one of the "key targets" of the overnight assault was Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Moscow had previously signalled it would intensify strikes on power facilities in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy sites, raising fears of a renewed campaign to cripple Ukraine's electricity grid as winter approaches.

The Ukrainian president renewed his appeal to Western allies to supply additional air defence packages, acknowledging that Ukrainian forces had managed to intercept only "some" of the missiles launched overnight. Ukraine has consistently depended on systems such as Patriot and NASAMS to shield its cities, but officials have long warned that supplies remain insufficient to cover the country's vast territory.

Moscow has not yet commented on the latest strikes, maintaining its customary silence on operations targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting residential areas despite extensive evidence gathered by international monitors and journalists documenting civilian casualties throughout the conflict.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces had conducted retaliatory strikes against four targets in Russia over the past 24 hours, including two oil facilities and a military training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions. He added cryptically that there was "also a response in the Black Sea" without elaborating.

The Black Sea has emerged as an increasingly active theatre in the conflict. On Tuesday evening, footage circulated showing a massive plume of smoke rising from an oil tanker off the coast of Sochi in southern Russia. Russia's transport ministry subsequently claimed that unmanned boats had attacked the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio tanker and that its crew had been rescued.

In a related development, Bulgaria halted its search for the missing crew of a ship that sank after being struck by a drone on Tuesday. Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov, of the country's Maritime Administration Executive Agency, confirmed the suspension of operations, as reported by Bulgarian television network Nora TV. Tracking data indicated the vessel, identified by Bulgarian specialist outlet Maritime.bg as the Alfa Watan, had been anchored at the southern end of the Bosphorus strait until Monday before entering the Black Sea heading north. Its last reported position was at 23:43 GMT on Monday within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. Maritime.bg reported the ship was attacked and sank approximately 70 nautical miles east of Byala.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said a second vessel carrying grain was also hit within the country's exclusive economic zone on Tuesday, though all 18 crew members aboard were rescued. Sofia has not publicly attributed responsibility for the attacks.

The escalating violence in the Black Sea reflects Russia's broader strategy of targeting maritime trade routes, particularly in the eastern portion of the sea, as part of its ongoing war against Ukraine. In his evening address on Tuesday, Zelensky explicitly blamed Russia for the attacks on the two vessels. Moscow has not responded to those accusations.

The latest bloodshed underscores the growing civilian toll of a war now well into its fourth year, with no sign of diplomatic resolution. Analysts note that Russia's willingness to launch large-scale strikes on the eve of Putin's birthday may signal a deliberate effort to project strength and resolve, even as the conflict drains both sides' resources. For Ukraine, the attacks reinforce the urgent need for enhanced air defence capabilities, a request that has become a recurring theme in Zelensky's appeals to Western partners.