Zelensky condemns 'vile' large-scale Russian attacks that killed 15

At least 15 individuals have died in overnight strikes throughout central and eastern Ukraine, in what Volodymyr Zelensky has described as one of Russia's "most vile" attacks.

Key points

• Bulgarian specialist news outlet Maritime.bg documented the Alfa Watan was attacked by a drone and sank 70nm (130km) east of Byala.
• "The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively, " Zelensky remarked, adding that 70 missiles were fired in total.
• Two individuals were additionally killed and eight injured after Russian missile strikes damaged five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk, noted Zelensky.
• On Tuesday evening, footage emerged showing a massive plume of smoke engulfing an oil tanker off the coast of Sochi, along the Black Sea in southern Russia.
• Tracking data demonstrates the ship was anchored at the southern end of the Bosphorus strait until Monday when it entered the Black Sea heading north.

Ukraine's president remarked a residential building in Pryluky in the Chernihiv region was destroyed as a "birthday 'gift' to Putin". This person turns 74 on Wednesday. Strikes additionally hit Kyiv, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia and Oleksandriya.

Zelensky remarked Ukraine had struck targets in attacks on Russia's Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions previously 24 hours, adding there was "also a response in the Black Sea", without providing further details. Moscow is yet to comment on the latest strikes.

In the social media post on Wednesday morning, Zelensky remarked five residents had been killed and 26, including five children, injured in a strike on a five-storey apartment building in Pryluky. He continued that residents could still be trapped in the rubble.

According to Chernihiv Oblast police afterwards, the death toll had risen to nine after the bodies of three children were recovered, with emergency workers continuing a search operation.

Two individuals were additionally killed in the capital, Kyiv, and two others in Oleksandriya, he continued.

Ukraine's national police posted pictures online showing what it notes is an unexploded Russian Iskander missile in the middle of a Kyiv district. BBC Verify has confirmed the images are genuine and the apparent missile fragments came down in an area of open land surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings.

Meanwhile, a video posted by the police demonstrates residents digging through collapsed remains of a residential building in Pryluky. Another verified video demonstrates damage to cars and what appears to be rubble and a fallen tree in an area surrounded by apartment blocks in Kremenchuk.

Zelensky renewed a call for allies to provide air defence backing packages to Ukraine, saying its military only managed to shoot down "some" of the missiles rolled out by Russia overnight.

According to Zelensky, one of the "key targets" of the attack was the country's energy infrastructure. It moscow earlier remarked it would intensify strikes on after Ukraine's strikes on Moscow's energy facilities.

In a separate post on Wednesday, Zelensky remarked Ukraine had struck four targets in retaliatory attacks previously 24 hours, including two oil facilities and a training ground in the Perm, Samara and Astrakhan regions.

"There is also a response in the Black Sea, " the Ukrainian president wrote.

In practice, the Russian transport ministry afterwards stated unmanned boats had attacked the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio oil tanker. Authorities claim the crew was rescued.

As noted by Bulgarian television network Nora TV, separately, Bulgaria has halted a search for the missing crew of a ship that sank after being hit by a drone on Tuesday, Vice-Admiral Rumen Nikolov from the Maritime Administration Executive Agency remarked.

Tracking data demonstrates the ship was anchored at the southern end of the Bosphorus strait until Monday when it entered the Black Sea heading north. Its last documented position on ship-tracking site MarineTraffic was at 23: 43 GMT on Monday in what is known as the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone of the Black Sea.

As well as the civilian cargo ship, a second vessel – carrying grain – was additionally hit within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, its Prime Minister Rumen Radev stated on Tuesday. The 18 crew members on the second vessel were rescued. Bulgaria has not remarked who it believes was behind the attacks.

As part of its war against Ukraine, it comes as Russia intensifies strikes in the Black Sea, particularly the eastern side.

In an evening address on Tuesday, Zelensky asserted Russia was responsible for the attacks. Moscow has not commented on the latest incident. Extra reporting by BBC Verify.

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