The China Mail - Russian missile strike destroys family home, 10 feared dead

An official with Ukraine's emergency services told AFP that six people had been confirmed killed so far, with another four presumed dead but still to be formally identified.

Russia fired a total of 74 missiles and 284 drones in the overnight barrage, according to Ukraine's air force -- the latest deadly attack in the four-and-a-half-year war, which is seeing a spike in civilian deaths.

In the capital Kyiv, tens of thousands hunkered in packed-out metro stations through the night after blasts started ringing out shortly after midnight.

The western city of Lviv was also badly hit, and neighbouring NATO member Poland said a 10-metre crater punctured in a field 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Ukraine border was likely from a Russian missile.

"The Russians used their ballistic missile to destroy an ordinary house belonging to an ordinary family," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

"It was an ordinary home, blown into smithereens," he added.

"The Voronov family: mother Olena, father Artem, seven children," and a grandchild, he said.

The strike hit their house outside the eastern city of Kryvyi Rig -- Zelensky's home town.

The youngest presumed victim was one and a half years old, he added.

The emergency services official said that such was the devastation at the scene, 17 "body fragments" had been found, and forensic examinations were ongoing.

"It can be preliminarily stated that all 10 people who were in the house have died," Sergiy Kovtoniuk, press officer of the State Emergency Service in the Dnipropetrovsk region, told AFP.

The regional governor published photos of rescuers sifting through the rubble of a destroyed house, wooden beams and concrete debris strewn across the yard.

- 'I want to live' -

Three people were also killed across Kyiv, Poltava and Lviv, local officials there said.

Russia's defence ministry said it had hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex, military communications and logistics centres.

Zelensky had late on Wednesday warned of a likely missile attack, prompting tens of thousands in Kyiv to preemptively seek shelter.

More than 56,000 people packed the stations of the Kyiv subway, which have doubled as shelters during the war.

They set up tents, rolled-out yoga mats and unfolded sleeping bags in what is now a well-organised routine.

Galyna Doschuk, 27, said she came to the subway station every time she read reports of a forthcoming attack.

"I want to live... sometimes our neighbour gets in the way," said the young photojournalist, wrapped in a black sweater, referring to Russia. "But we're fighting on."

Explosions starting ringing out in the capital at around 01:00 am, an AFP journalist heard.

The attack also destroyed a popular flea market in Kyiv.

Its burnt and mangled metal structure was still smouldering in the morning as sellers tried to salvage belongings.

In the western city of Lviv, rescuers said they had pulled a 93-year-old-woman out alive from the rubble of a five-storey building. She had been alone on the top floor when Russia attacked.

An AFP reporter in the city saw apartment blocks ripped open, rubble all around, as locals looked on, crying and covering their faces.

- Poland crater -

Ukraine's air force said it had managed to intercept 55 missiles and 265 drones launched by Moscow -- but it has struggled to intercept the advanced ballistic missiles that Russia is increasingly deploying.

In neighbouring Poland, police said they had discovered a 10-metre-wide crater in a field after an unidentified object was detected on radar screens during the Russian attack -- triggering anger in Warsaw and across Europe.

"From the analysis of most of the traces, the recovered fragments point to a Russian Kh-101 missile," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told journalists near the crater.

Zelensky renewed his call for more supplies of air-defence equipment to protect Ukraine against the ballistic missiles.

"Given the critical shortage of air-defence missiles from our partners, our warriors are accomplishing truly incredible things," he said.

The Ukrainian leader had on Tuesday discussed anti-ballistic defence with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Last month was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022 as Russia ramped up its attacks.

Z.Ma--ThChM