Russia hits Ukraine with wave of attacks on Putin’s birthday

KYIV – Russian strikes killed at least 12 people and injured over 40 across Ukraine on Wednesday — the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrates his 74th birthday.

“As a birthday ‘gift’ to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region. It was an ordinary five-story apartment building,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday morning, adding that there may be more victims trapped under the rubble.

The Ukrainian air force reported it had shot down most of the 130 killer drones and cruise missiles but only five of about 20 ballistic missiles. Pryluky was the worst-hit area, with five people killed and 26 injured, including five children, according to Zelenskyy. One missile landed in a densely populated Kyiv residential district and did not detonate.

Local authorities also reported destruction in Kyiv, where two people were killed, as well as in Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia and other regions. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s energy system was one of the key targets of the latest attack.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said it had to schedule power cuts in some parts of the country to save energy, while residents in at least five regions were still without electricity on Wednesday morning.

“The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively. This was one of the most vile strikes. Russian ballistic missiles remain the greatest challenge. And air defense packages for us right now are a vital necessity,” Zelenskyy added.

“Mr. Putin, is this what you wanted for your birthday? People killed in their sleep, injured children, shattered homes?” EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová wrote on Facebook.

In the past 24 hours, Ukraine has also burned a Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea, struck two oil facilities and a military training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions. The Russian defense ministry reported shooting down 311 drones over 16 Russian regions and the Black Sea.