The death toll from Wednesday’s Russian missile strike on Pryluky, in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, has risen to 22, including five children, local authorities said on Thursday.
“Twenty-two people died in Pryluky. Among them were five children,” Chernihiv Governor Vyacheslav Chaus said in a statement on Telegram. Four victims died at the impact site, while one child died in hospital. More than 50 people were injured, he said.
Chaus added that Wednesday afternoon’s attack also hit the regional capital, Chernihiv, where a three-storey building caught fire. The fire was extinguished.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Kh-101 missile had struck a residential building in Pryluky. He called for additional air defence missiles and other support for Ukraine, saying the country’s air defence systems need regular supplies.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defences shot down 117 of 130 strike drones and at least 44 ballistic and cruise missiles launched by Russia overnight.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out a “massive strike” on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, as well as in the Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Kharkiv and Odesa regions.