The United Nations (UN) has condemned a fresh wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine that reportedly killed dozens of civilians, including five children, and called for an immediate end to attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, issued the appeal on Wednesday, October 7, following overnight strikes in several parts of the country.
At least 19 people were reportedly killed in Pryluky in the Chernihiv Region, including five children, three of them babies, according to local authorities. One of the children was reportedly killed alongside his mother and grandmother.
At least 50 other people were injured when residential buildings were struck, with the casualty toll expected to rise as rescue operations continued.
The attacks also reportedly killed about 25 people and injured dozens more in Kremenchuk in the Poltava Region, Kyiv and Oleksandriia in the Kirovohrad Region.
Schmale said the continuing attacks were placing civilians, particularly children, at unacceptable risk.
“Families must never live through the horror of seeing their children placed in constant danger or buried under the rubble of their own homes. This pattern of increasing harm to civilians must end,” Schmale said.
The latest violence comes amid continued Russian attacks across Ukraine more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The UN said airstrikes on October 5 and 6 also hit a hospital in Kryvyi Rih and ambulances in Kramatorsk, injuring health workers. Ukrainian Red Cross workers were also injured while travelling to assist people affected by an attack in Zaporizhzhia.
UN Warns of International Law Violations
Schmale stressed that civilians and essential civilian infrastructure are protected under international humanitarian law.
“Civilians, including children, homes and essential civilian infrastructure are protected under international humanitarian law,” he said.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the ongoing attacks and expressed deep concern over the rising civilian death toll.
“All attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur, are a violation of international humanitarian law and must end immediately,” Dujarric said.
According to the UN, 15,280 civilians were killed or injured in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026.
Humanitarian teams reported that attacks and frontline hostilities during the 24 hours preceding Wednesday’s statement had caused more than 150 civilian casualties.
Humanitarian Needs Continue
The intensifying attacks are also increasing pressure on humanitarian organisations operating across Ukraine, with strikes increasingly affecting areas farther from the front lines.
During the first eight months of 2026, the UN and its humanitarian partners provided assistance to approximately 1.5 million people affected by strikes across the country.
The UN said the latest attacks underscore the continuing need to protect civilians, homes, medical facilities and other essential infrastructure as the conflict continues.
