Deadly Strikes

Russian strikes killed at least 11 people and injured more than 34 across Ukraine overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.

Missiles hit Pryluky, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv, striking the country's energy grid, according to the Guardian. Zelenskyy called it one of the most vile strikes of the war. The attacks landed on Russian President Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday. A birthday gift for Putin, Zelenskyy called it, the Guardian reported.

Two people died in a Kyiv fire. It broke out in the Darnytskyi district during the overnight attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, according to Al Jazeera. Firefighters pulled two others from the blaze as they worked to put it out, Klitschko said.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had launched a massive strike on targets in Kyiv and other regions, Al Jazeera reported. Russian forces struck port facilities in the Odesa region, the ministry said, along with vessels it claimed were tied to Ukraine's armed forces.

Ballistic missiles pose Ukraine's biggest threat right now, Zelenskyy said, and he pressed allies for more air defense. Air defense packages for us right now are a vital necessity, he said. Ukraine is seeking missiles for Patriot systems to guard its skies, the Guardian reported.

Kyiv has endured near-constant bombardment in recent weeks. Strikes have hit energy sites, rail lines, roads and bridges over the Dnipro River. Air raid sirens have sounded almost without pause, sending residents into basements and subway stations, Al Jazeera reported.

No coincidence, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the strikes. On Putin's birthday, Russian generals brought him his favorite present: war crimes, Sybiha said, according to the Guardian. He demanded tougher sanctions on Russia's military-industrial complex, including plants that build ballistic missiles and the Rassvet satellite system, plus more air defense and energy aid for Ukraine ahead of winter. Ukraine is preparing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine, he said, and plans to formally launch it next year.

His ultimate present will be a dock in The Hague, Sybiha said.