The strike, which hit around dawn, was one of several Russian attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday that raised the nationwide death toll to 25. In the capital, Kyiv, two people were killed; two more died in Kremenchuk, where more than 430 apartments and private homes were damaged, and two in Oleksandriya. Dozens were injured in the Kremenchuk attack, the regional leader said.
In Pryluky, rescue teams spent hours searching the rubble. Late in the afternoon, the body of a fifth child was found. More than 50 residents were wounded and other residential buildings as well as a youth centre were damaged. Chernihiv regional head Vyacheslav Chaus said the town was hit by five cruise missiles, one of which slammed into the apartment building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as one of Russia's "most vile strikes", suggesting the Russian military had carried it out as a "birthday gift" to President Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 on Wednesday. Moscow did not comment on the Pryluky attack but said its "massive strike" had targeted military industries in Kyiv and elsewhere.