Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine have killed at least five people and injured dozens of others, including children, as Russian troops step up assaults around the country’s strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on October 30 described the attacks as a "complex, combined strike," noting that Russian forces used over 650 drones and more than 50 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian officials say two people were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhya, while four others were killed in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk -- two of Ukraine’s main strongholds in the Donetsk region, along with Pokrovsk.
Following the strikes, Ukraine's emergency services reported that rescuers had recovered the body of a man from the rubble of a residential building in Zaporizhzhya, destroyed in one of the attacks.
Local authorities later confirmed that the body of another victim had been recovered from beneath the debris.
In Ukraine's west-central Vinnytsia region, a seven-year-old girl, injured in a Russian strike later died in hospital, according to Natalya Zabolotna, first deputy head of the regional military administration.
"She was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. Doctors fought for her life, but unfortunately, they were unable to save her,” she wrote in a Telegram post.
Speaking to RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, a resident of the Slovyansk region said the attack has damaged residential areas. "I can't describe how loud the strikes were -- my heart nearly stopped," she added.
The National Energy Company Ukrenerho reported that Russia's massive air attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have caused emergency power outages across most regions of the country.
In Ukraine's western Lviv region, which borders NATO and EU member Poland, the regional governor reported that two energy facilities were hit.
"Russia continues its systematic terror -- striking at the lives, dignity, and warmth of Ukrainians on the eve of winter," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its armed forces had carried out a massive overnight strike on Ukraine's military-industrial facilities, energy infrastructure, and military airfields in response to "Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets in Russia."
"The strike achieved its objectives, with all designated targets hit," the ministry said in a statement on October 30.
Commander Visits Frontline Positions Near Pokrovsk
After visiting frontline positions in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad area, Ukraine's top commander said that Russian troops are stepping up attacks around the eastern stronghold of Pokrovsk.
Oleksandr Syrskiy wrote on Telegram that Ukraine is strengthening its defenses to repel the attacks.
"The situation is difficult, but Russian propaganda claims about the alleged 'encirclement' of Ukraine's defense forces in Pokrovsk, as well as in Kupyansk, do not correspond to reality," Syrskiy said on October 30.
Pokrovsk, a city of about 7,000 inhabitants -- down from more than 60,000 prewar -- holds crucial road and rail junctions and has been under threat of encirclement by Russian forces for most of the year.
In early October, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russian troops had entered the city, but Ukrainian officials at the time denied the report and said Kremlin forces continued to suffer heavy losses in the region.
On October 26, Ukraine's General Staff said several small Russian infantry units -- totaling some 200 soldiers -- had evaded defensive lines and established positions inside Pokrovsk.
