18 dead in Ukraine's Pryluky after Russian strike

At least 24 people have been killed in Russian strikes in Ukraine including 18 in a single strike on a residential building in the northern town of Pryluky, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Children were among the dead as Russia pounded Ukraine with waves of missiles and drones in one of its most "vile strikes", Mr Zelensky said as he noted the strike coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin's birthday.

"Today, as a birthday 'gift' to Putin, the Russian army destroyed a residential building in Pryluky...," Mr Zelensky said.

"The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively. This was one of the most vile strikes: 70 missiles in total, many of them ballistic."

An excavator and dozens of rescuers with shovels sifted through rubble at the site where several sections of the five-storey building collapsed.

Emergency workers used ladders to get to the upper floors of what remained of the building. Around 50 people were wounded, including seven children, regional officials said.

Big jump in reported drone interceptions

Mr Zelensky said six other people were killed in Kyiv, Oleksandria and Kremenchuk during the heavy overnight attack.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had carried out a "massive strike" on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions, using high-precision land-, sea- and air-launched weapons, as well as drones.

Ukraine's air force said it had downed just over 80% of the 46 jet-powered drones launched by Russia — a sharp increase from recent weeks when, on average, air defences took down 50% to 60%.

Since the summer, Russia has used increasing numbers of the new high-velocity drones in round-the-clock attacks on Kyiv and other cities, with Ukraine's air defences struggling to cope with their speed.

The air force did not explain the jump in the interception rate and did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mr Zelensky said the Russian ballistic missiles remained the major challenge for Ukraine, adding that he and his team were "every day looking for Patriot (missile interception) systems that can and must protect people's lives".

Last week, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine had fired its first domestically made ballistic missile in combat, produced by Fire Point.

He said he expected the company to have a longer-range FP-9 missile ready by the autumn, which the company has said will be capable of reaching Moscow.

Ukraine hit two Russian oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara, and Astrakhan regions, Mr Zelensky said.

"These are justified Ukrainian responses to all Russian attacks on our people," he said on the Telegram app.

Many Kyiv residents took shelter in the city's deep underground metro stations as warnings of the upcoming attacks were shared by Ukrainian officials and military intelligence.

Several loud explosions reverberated through the capital during the night, witnesses said.

"The metro is better, because we live on the ninth floor of a high-rise, and it's really scary when you're on the ninth floor and missiles are flying at you," Lesia, a Kyiv resident, said.

Ukrainian officials said Russian ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv in addition to the drones.

For months, Ukraine suffered from a critical lack of air defences, prompting Mr Zelensky and other officials to repeatedly plead for help and more supplies.

Overnight air strikes on the southeastern city of Dnipro damaged an industrial facility, transport infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia and apartment buildings in Kremenchuk, regional officials said on the Telegram messaging app.

Bulgaria halts search for crew of ship sunk by drone strike

Bulgaria has halted its search for the missing crew of a ship that sank after being hit by a drone yesterday about 70 nautical miles off its coast, Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov of the Maritime Administration Executive Agency told Nova TV today.

Two ships were hit in the drone attack in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone early yesterday. One sank and the other was damaged. The crew of the damaged ship were rescued, but the crew of the sunken one remain missing.

Mr Nikolov said the rescue operation for the crew of the sunken ship would not resume today.

"There are no traces of the sailors from the first ship, and there will be none. There is also no information about drone remains," he said.

"A boat, three life rafts and parts of the ship's equipment have been found."

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack involving air and sea drones in waters off the coastal town of Byala in eastern Bulgaria, but there are growing concerns about hybrid attacks by Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.

Mr Nikolov said the incident occurred in a so-called "responsible search and rescue zone" and not in the country's territorial waters, which extend to 12 nautical miles off the coast.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev yesterday that it was unclear whether the drones came from Russia or from Ukraine, the BTA news agency reported.

Bulgaria does not border either country, but as a NATO member it holds a strategic position on the Black Sea, where both Ukraine and Russia have major ports.

Mr Zelensky, speaking in a nightly video address, said an investigation jointly with Bulgaria's navy had shown that Russia was behind the attack.

Mr Radev said today that following the attack his government would approve the purchase of five more surface-to-air missile systems.