Children reportedly among casualties in Russian strikes across Ukraine

At least 24 people were killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday, including four young children who died when a missile slammed into an apartment block in the north of the country as they slept, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Windows shattered in the powerful blast in Pryluky, in the Chernigiv region, reducing one half of the five-storey building into a smoking pile of charred concrete and twisted metal.Zelenskyy said three of the 18 victims of the strike were just 12 months old while another was aged eight.Seven other children were among dozens wounded and one child was among 15 rescued, Zelenskyy said, accusing Russia of deliberately targeting "ordinary cities, ordinary life"."We were at home, sleeping," resident Olena Sayun toldAFP, saying she and her husband shielded their child as windows shattered.The strike came after Zelenskyy warned of a "massive" Russian attack targeting energy infrastructure.Four more people were killed in strikes on Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Oleksandriya, while two died in a strike-related fire in Kiev.Air raid sirensKiev has come under increased attack in recent weeks as winter approaches, with air raid sirens wailing nearly constantly to warn of incoming Russian strikes.Worried residents hunkered down for the night in subway stations overnight, hauling duffel bags, sleeping mats and blankets."We grabbed our things and came here, we live right next door," Iryna Rybalchenko, who works in a bank, toldAFP, sitting on the platform wrapped in a dark hoodie and surrounded by bags."The whole of Kiev is in a state of fear.

We were stuck at work today and everyone –- our group chats, our bosses –- were messaging us to be careful."Russia launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones overnight against several regions including Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev, Kharkiv, and Poltava, Ukraine's air force said.Zelenskyy, who called it "one of the most vile strikes" in the nearly five-year conflict, said some were shot down but ballistic missiles were "the greatest challenge" and new air defences were essential to help Ukraine defend itself."I don't see any military significance in this at all," said Yuliia Shamrai, 31, who works in online marketing and lives near the stricken building in Pryluky.Asked why they had been hit, she added: "Just to break people, the civilian population that was peacefully sleeping."