Russian Missile Strikes Kill Five Civilians and Destroy Kindergarten in Eastern Ukraine

Moscow has been escalating its daily bombardments of drones and missiles in recent months across Ukraine.

On Monday, Russian aerial attacks resulted in five fatalities and completely destroyed a kindergarten in eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.

In recent months, Russia has significantly intensified its daily barrage of drones and missiles, targeting Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure and striking numerous civilian locations as winter approaches.

Ukraine's emergency service reported that three people were killed and thirteen injured in an attack on a residential area of Balakliya, a city along the frontline in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Among the wounded were four children.

Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska condemned the attack on social media, stating, "The aggressor destroyed several apartment buildings and a kindergarten. An inhuman attack that cannot be justified."

Images released by the local administration showed a partially damaged Soviet-era apartment block with all glass windows shattered from the impact.

A subsequent Russian strike claimed two more civilian lives in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the local governor.

The Ukrainian port authority also reported that a Turkish-flagged gas cargo vessel caught fire after Russian drones attacked the city of Izmail in the Odesa region along the Black Sea.

This assault occurred just one day after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement with Greece to import natural gas via the Trans-Balkan pipeline, which passes through the Odesa region.

In October, Moscow launched its most extensive bombing campaign against Ukrainian gas facilities since the beginning of the 2022 invasion, disrupting 60 percent of production of the country's primary heating fuel source.

Kyiv has consistently targeted Russian fuel depots, oil refineries, and other energy infrastructure, describing these actions as retaliation for Moscow's attacks.

According to the Moscow-backed governor of the occupied Donetsk region, approximately 500,000 subscribers experienced temporary power outages early Monday following a Ukrainian attack.