Ukraine says death toll rises to 24 following large-scale Russian aerial attack

The death toll from a large-scale Russian aerial attack on Ukraine on Thursday rose to 24, including three children, with 48 people injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.

Search and rescue operations at the site of a Russian strike on a residential building in the capital Kyiv had been completed, Zelenskyy said through the US social media company X.

“The Russians practically demolished an entire section of the building with their missile,” he noted.

Zelenskyy expressed condolences to the victims’ families, adding that those injured or displaced would receive assistance.

“A Russia like this can never be normalized – a Russia that deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished,” Zelenskyy said, stressing that “pressure is needed.”

“It is Ukraine that is defending Europe and the world so that such strikes, in which children are killed, do not spread further. That is why support for the defenders of life must continue. Ballistic missile defense is always needed,” he added.

Earlier Thursday, Zelenskyy said Russian forces had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukraine since the beginning of Wednesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Thursday confirmed carrying out massive overnight airstrikes, claiming the attacks targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure in response to Kyiv’s strikes on Russian energy facilities.