At least 22 dead, dozens wounded as Russia launches attacks across Ukraine

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed at least 22 deaths and 130 injuries following Russia’s overnight missile and drone strikes across the country, including Kyiv, Dnipro, and other regions. Emergency crews rescued survivors trapped under rubble, including a three-year-old child and a mother with her eight-year-old son in Dnipro, where 12 people died. Kyiv recorded six fatalities and 64 injuries, with residential buildings and civilian infrastructure damaged. Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones, with Ukrainian air defenses intercepting 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and 33 drones, though debris from destroyed drones struck 15 locations. Zelenskyy criticized insufficient air defense supplies, citing depleted U.S.-made Patriot missile stocks due to the Iran war, leaving civilians vulnerable. He called for urgent support from the U.S. and European allies. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated the strikes targeted military industrial facilities in seven regions, including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv, while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov framed the escalation as retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on a student dorm in Luhansk last month, which killed 21 people. Ukraine denied aiming at civilians, claiming the strike hit a drone command center. The attacks stretched from night into day, with explosions heard across cities. Kyiv resident Iryna Salikova, 37, sheltered in a bathtub with her daughter, describing shattered windows and debris but thanking luck for survival. Russia’s use of a hypersonic Oreshnik missile marked its third deployment in the four-year war, signaling intensified aerial campaigns. U.S.-led peace efforts remain stalled, with Zelenskyy previously accepting a ceasefire demand from former U.S. President Donald Trump, though Putin rejected it. The conflict has entered a ‘new paradigm,’ Peskov said, citing ‘acts of terror’ by Kyiv’s military against Russian civilians.