At least 15 people were killed by the overnight drone and missile strikes across 11 regions, Ukrainian officials said. Nine died, including three children, when a ballistic missile hit a five-storey residential building in Pryluky in the Chernihiv region, with 38 people injured. Video of the attack showed the missile slamming into the block, which collapsed and trapped those inside. Rescuers were picking through the rubble to find survivors.
Two people were killed in Kyiv, and four civilians died in the central cities of Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia. Extensive damage was also reported in Dnipro.
"The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively," Zelenskyy said, describing the attack as "despicable". In a social media post he wrote: "Today, on Putin's birthday, the Russian army 'presented' him with the destruction of a residential block in Pryluky. It was an ordinary five-storey block of flats."
The bombardment involved 70 ballistic missiles and 46 jet-powered drones, which in recent weeks have been terrorising Ukrainians on a daily basis. Ukraine's air force said it shot down just over 80 per cent of the fast-moving drones, an improvement on the previous average of 50 to 60 per cent.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine was struggling to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles and appealed to allies to provide US-manufactured Patriot interceptors. "Air defence packages for us right now are a vital necessity," he said.