UKRAINE: Five children killed in overnight airstrikes on schools and homes
KYIV (Oct. 8, 2026) – At least 22 civilians, including five children, were reportedly killed in a night of airstrikes in Ukraine on Wednesday, with 54 civilians, including seven children, reportedly injured.[1]
A woman employed in a school which receives support from a Save the Children partner organization was among those killed in the attacks, alongside her one-year-old son and husband.
The woman, aged just 23, had recently started work as accountant at the school, which is supported by Save the Children partner organization, Istok, in the town of Pryluky. She and her family were killed when a missile struck the apartment block in which they lived, destroying around 30 apartments as families and their children slept inside.
Two schools supported by Save the Children and Istok – including the school at which the accountant worked - were also affected by the attack, with dozens of windows and doors damaged.
Sonia Khush, Save the Children country director in Ukraine, said:
“We are deeply saddened and outraged by the loss of this dedicated school worker, along with her one-year-old son and husband, in an airstrike on their home on Wednesday night.
“These latest airstrikes come amid increasing attacks on civilians including children in Ukraine and show how children and families are facing relentless danger in their homes, schools, playgrounds and other places where people should feel safe.
“Violence against civilians is unacceptable and it must stop.”
According to the latest monthly data from the UN, 310 children were killed or injured in Ukraine in July and August. This is the highest number recorded over a two-month period in the past four years and comes as attacks increasingly hit civilian infrastructure.[2]
Save the Children has been working in Ukraine since 2014. It scaled up operations when the full-scale war broke out, reaching more than 5 million people since February 2022—including more than 2 million children.
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Notes
[1] Children killed while they slept as Russian missile kills 19 in block of flats
[2] UN OHCHR in Ukraine, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, https://ukraine.ohchr.org/en/reports/protection-of-civilians
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