logo
Ukrainian kindergarten hit by Putin missile as pics show giant crater in playground & rubble strewn across naptime beds

Ukrainian kindergarten hit by Putin missile as pics show giant crater in playground & rubble strewn across naptime beds

The Irish Sun21-07-2025
A KINDERGARTEN was destroyed by one of Vladimir Putin's missiles in another ruthless strike that laid bare the tyrant's war on Ukraine's children.
The missile slammed into the building in Kyiv — leaving a gaping crater where toddlers once played and naptime beds buried under dust.
Advertisement
8
The crater from a falling Russian attack drone is in the ground outside nursery and kindergarten N706
Credit: Cover Images
8
Dust covers the beds at nursery and kindergarten in the Darnytskyi district
Credit: Cover Images
8
Debris covers theKyiv nursery's floor by a flight of stairs
Credit: Cover Images
8
A man removes glass shards from a windowsill as the building's walls are covered in holes from the missile impact
Credit: Cover Images
Heartbreaking images from nursery and kindergarten N706 in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district revealed the shattered remains of what was once a bright and joyful sanctuary.
Tiny beds with purple throws turned grey as they were coated in ash.
Fire-blackened doors hanging from their hinges.
Walls once painted with fairytale castles and smiling flowers are now just a faint reminder of brighter, peaceful days.
Advertisement
Read more on Ukraine war
A broken window now frames a colourful wall drawing, eerily untouched by the chaos around it.
Outside, the light blue walls of the school still stand, but windows have been blasted out and debris now chokes the floor and stairways.
A man is seen carefully sweeping glass shards from a windowsill.
Meanwhile, a woman walks her dog past the wreckage as a little girl stands, silent, beside her — staring at the ruins of the school.
Advertisement
Most read in The US Sun
The
Kyiv bore the brunt of the assault, as explosions lit up the capital's skyline, forcing families underground once again.
Warped Russian state TV parades 'drone death factory' packed with kamikaze killing machines after Ukraine blitzes Moscow
The missile that hit the kindergarten came as Mad Vlad unleashed yet another wave of destruction across civilian areas.
It marked the second time in three days that NATO fighter jets were scrambled in response to the bombardments.
Advertisement
Ukrainian officials said at least 15 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy, in the barrage.
Subway stations turned into makeshift shelters as drones buzzed through the air above Kyiv.
Homes and commercial buildings were caught in the onslaught, with rescuers racing between four districts to sift through wreckage and aid the wounded.
8
The colourful walls are a haunting reminder of what was once a happy place
Credit: Cover Images
Advertisement
8
A broken window frames a drawing on the wall
Credit: Cover Images
8
A fire-stricken door is seen outside the nursery
Credit: Cover Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed recovery, saying: 'Rescue and emergency efforts are underway in our cities and communities following the Russian attack…
'The waves of attacks lasted all night and continued into the morning.'
Advertisement
The strikes came amid growing fears that
According to German Major General Christian Freuding, Moscow is plotting a mass drone assault involving 2,000 Shahed drones, in a bid to overwhelm Ukraine's already strained air defences.
The general warned: 'We have uncovered worrying intelligence… [Russia is] significantly expanding its weapons production capacity.'
Chilling footage aired on Russian state TV showed teenagers working in a so-called 'drone death factory,' with Moscow boasting about the 'huge, bright workshops' churning out kamikaze drones by the hundreds.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Ukraine has not remained passive.
Kyiv's own drone army
8
Discarded fire extinguishers are scattered on the ground after the missile strike
Credit: Cover Images
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ukraine officials arrested over large-scale corruption scheme involving drone procurement
Ukraine officials arrested over large-scale corruption scheme involving drone procurement

The Journal

time40 minutes ago

  • The Journal

Ukraine officials arrested over large-scale corruption scheme involving drone procurement

UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE said they arrested several politicians in connection with a 'large-scale corruption scheme' in the defence sector, shortly after an uproar over the independence of anti-graft bodies. A law passed at the end of July stripped the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) of their independence and placed them under the supervision of the Prosecutor General, himself appointed by the head of state. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday backtracked and restored the bodies' independence following an outcry from the country's allies and the first anti-government street demonstrations since the Russian invasion in 2022. The NABU said on Saturday that it and the SAP had exposed 'a scheme for the systematic misappropriation of budget funds allocated by local authorities for the needs of the defence forces, as well as the receipt and provision of unlawful benefits on an especially large scale'. It said the scheme involved inflating prices for electronic warfare and drone equipment, and then funnelling off 30% of the contract amounts. The suspects include a member of parliament, heads of district and city administrations, members of the National Guard, and executives at defence companies. Advertisement The NABU said it has made four arrests so far but did not identify those detained. The interior ministry said it had suspended the suspected members of the National Guard. NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and Head of the SAPO Oleksandr Klymenko delivered a report. A Ukrainian MP, along with heads of district and city administrations and several National Guard servicemembers, were exposed for bribery. I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 2, 2025 Zelensky said in a statement: 'I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for their work. 'It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption.' The president initially said he needed to bring the NABU and the SAP under his control because they were inefficient and under 'Russian influence'. But he did an about-face when confronted with the outcry – first serious political crisis since he took office six years ago. Several cases of corruption – an endemic problem in the country – have been exposed within the armed forces and the defence ministry during the war with Russia.

Sitdown Sunday: Scanning the heavens with the Pope's astronomer at the Vatican Observatory
Sitdown Sunday: Scanning the heavens with the Pope's astronomer at the Vatican Observatory

The Journal

time40 minutes ago

  • The Journal

Sitdown Sunday: Scanning the heavens with the Pope's astronomer at the Vatican Observatory

IT'S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair. We've hand-picked some of the week's best reads for you to savour. 1. The Pope's astronomer The Vatican Observatory of Castel Gandolfo. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo You might be surprised to learn that the Vatican has its own observatory. Rebecca Mead went to see how the research institution operated by the Holy See works, and met the Michigan-born Jesuit who runs it. ( The New Yorker , approx 25 mins reading time) Guy Consolmagno believes in the big bang, at least as a provisional explanation of the universe's origins, and also in a creator God who exists before and beyond the big bang. In his understanding, the spheres of science and religion do not entirely overlap. Rather, they 'live together—the one doesn't replace the other,' he told me. 'Using science to prove religion would make science greater than religion. It would make your version of God subservient to your understanding of the universe. And not only does that make for a pretty weak God, but it is also crazy, because in a thousand years' time the scientific questions that people ask are going to be very different. Science goes obsolete—it doesn't progress otherwise.' 2. Ukraine's stolen children Over 19,500 children taken to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine have yet to be returned. Simon Shuster reports on the fight to get them back. ( TIME , approx 14 mins reading time) Of all the children on the list Putin saw, perhaps the best-­documented case is that of Margarita Prokopenko, who was only a few months old when the Russian invasion began. Abandoned at birth by her mother, Margarita was the youngest of several dozen children living in a home for orphans and kids with disabilities in the city of Kherson. In early March 2022, Russian troops overran that city and installed a puppet government to run it. Many of those who showed open resistance to the occupation were arrested or killed. A member of the Russian parliament, Igor Kastyukevich, soon arrived from Moscow to help cement the Kremlin's control, and he began making frequent visits to the orphanage that spring. Kastyukevich, who represents Putin's political party, would often arrive in the company of armed men, dressed in camouflage, and bring food and other supplies for the children, according to videos he posted online to document the visits. Early that fall, Kastyukevich and other Russian officials began taking the children away, they said, to ensure their safety. Margarita, the youngest, was among the first. 3. The Badwater 135 Advertisement A lone runner in Death Valley during the ultramarathon in 2016. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Billed as the toughest footrace on Earth, the ultramarathon takes place over 135 miles in the scorching heat of Death Valley in California. Devin Kelly speaks to those who make up the support crew to help the runners along the way. ( Outside , approx 18 mins reading time) As the race director, Chris Kostman, announced at the athlete briefing, 'Seven times more people have summited Mount Everest than have completed this race.' The race begins at the lowest point in North America, the Badwater Basin, which sinks 282 feet below sea level, and where temperatures routinely top out above 120 degrees. (This year, with reported temperatures ranging from 116 to 118 degrees, was labeled a 'cool year' by seasoned racers.) From there, the race summits two mountain passes before climbing to the top of Whitney Portal Road, where it finishes above 8,000 feet, right at the base of the hiking trail that climbs to the top of the continental United States's highest peak. The race begins at nightfall. Runners emerge into morning light somewhere near the mile 42 checkpoint at the small waypoint of Stovepipe Wells, where, in 1926, the first hotel was built in Death Valley, just a few miles from a stovepipe that a thoughtful, considerate prospector shoved into a much-needed well so that travelers could find water that once was perpetually hidden under the valley's sandy dunes. From there, racers begin a day of running that offers no shade and no respite from the sun. They suffer along a long and lonely road that warps with twirling mirages of heat, where even the wind feels less like a breeze and more like swallowing the inner workings of an oven that has been burning for centuries. 4. TikTok detectives Amid a boom in online shaming, private investigator influencers are tracking down cheaters and posting all about it on social media – and their followers are eating it up. ( Wired , approx 12 mins reading time) All of the PIs interviewed for this piece have completed the relevant training in their local jurisdiction, but certification requirements differ across states and countries—some, like Idaho, don't require any. And while PIs like Stephanie and Allen-Stell don't market themselves as influencers, they do utilize popular TikTok formats in their posts. Stephanie often posts rundowns of her meals when she's tailing suspects in restaurants or does her skin care routine in her car, noting, 'Everyone seems to love it.' In her recent videos, Allen-Stell demonstrates how to sweep a hotel room for hidden cameras and talks about the HydroJug cup she's 'obsessed' with, taking it on stakeouts and flights. Taken as a whole, their channels offer a mix of authority and accessibility—a marked shift from the PIs of old, or at least our collective perception of a PI. Philip Marlowe and Jake Gittes never broadcast from the front seat of their car wearing a Yankee's hat and under-eye masks, but for Stephanie, it's her preferred stakeout attire. 5. Hyperemesis gravidarum Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Abi Stephenson shares her own experience of the debilitating condition that is known as a severe form of morning sickness, which can last for the duration of a pregnancy, the medicalised misogyny she encountered and the drug that could offer a solution. ( The Guardian , approx 18 mins reading time) If one hasn't experienced it, it is hard to imagine the physical and psychological impacts of starvation and relentless vomiting – up to 50 times a day, for nine months. So studies fill in the gaps: bedsores, atrophied muscles, torn oesophagi, fractured ribs, detached retinas, intracranial haemorrhage, Wernicke's encephalopathy, broken teeth, collapsed lungs, liver dysfunction, lost jobs and relationships, sterilisations to avoid future pregnancies, long-term PTSD and depression. And death. In 2022, Jessica Cronshaw, a 26-year-old primary school teacher from Lancashire, took her own life when 28 weeks pregnant. Her much-wanted daughter was delivered via C-section and died four days later. In the inquest report, the assistant coroner said the case 'should serve as a reminder to healthcare professionals about the critical importance of addressing the wide-ranging impacts of hyperemesis gravidarum, including its mental health aspects.' According to a recent study, as many as 4.9% of women with HG have terminated a wanted pregnancy and more than a quarter have considered suicide as their only option to obtain relief. That's a staggering number of women, year on year. Related Reads Sitdown Sunday: Unexplained deaths and child exorcisms - inside the cult of the Jesus Army Sitdown Sunday: 'The water had lifted the house off its pillars. It was afloat. And then it wasn't.' Sitdown Sunday: She turned her life story into a bestselling memoir - but was it all a lie? 6. Fooling the Frick Matthew Christopher Pietras donated millions of dollars to New York's museums like the Met and the Frick, earning him a reputation as a wealthy philanthropist. Then he was found dead in his apartment, and it turned out the money was stolen. ( Intelligencer , approx 23 mins reading time) Andrew decided to give him another chance. In March 2020, after seeing a variety show at 54 Below, Pietras called an Uber and abruptly invited Andrew over to his place. But instead of heading north toward the Pierre, the car pulled up to an unremarkable brick building on 39th Street. Pietras took Andrew up an elevator and showed him into a small studio apartment. Since they began dating, Andrew had found Pietras to be almost obsessively neat. On a trip they took to London a few weeks earlier, Pietras instructed the bellman to store his empty luggage lest it clutter the closet. But inside Pietras's apartment, every inch was given over to designer items. Suits, jackets, and coats hung from rows of racks. The floor, counters, and tables were covered with boxes of bags, shoes, and cosmetics. 'He was hoarding luxury goods. There's no other way to describe it,' Andrew says. Pietras's explanation for living in the studio did nothing to help Andrew better understand the situation. 'He told me the rent was reasonable,' Andrew says. 'I watched you order a $6,000 bottle of wine, and you like the reasonable rent. What?' …AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES… Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Ghislaine Maxwell was back in the news this week amid the furore over Donald Trump and the Epstein Files. Here's a 2020 longread about her year on the run before she was convicted of child sex trafficking. ( Vanity Fair , approx 37 mins reading time) By the time the friend ran into her on the plane, Maxwell and one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, had settled a lawsuit in which Giuffre accused Maxwell of recruiting her as a 'sex slave' for Epstein and Prince Andrew, among others, when she was only 17. Now Maxwell was in the process of quietly withdrawing from the life she had made for herself. She shuttered the ocean-protection charity she had founded, the TerraMar Project, which left her with debts of $549,093. She even gave up her name, sometimes introducing herself to new acquaintances only as 'G.' Yet here she was, on a commercial flight from Miami to New York. For a moment, as the two friends chatted, the old Maxwell burst through: the Oxford-educated, knows-everybody-and-everything Maxwell, the woman who wanted to save the oceans but couldn't seem to save herself from the men in her life. 'Where are you living, Ghislaine?' the friend asked. 'I lost touch with you.' Maxwell suddenly went blank. 'Oh,' she replied, 'a little bit everywhere.' 'But where?' her friend pressed. Maxwell wouldn't answer. 'Looking back,' the friend says now, 'I personally think she knew that the shit was really about to go down.' Note: The Journal generally selects stories that are not paywalled, but some might not be accessible if you have exceeded your free article limit on the site in question. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

Ukrainian officials held in drone procurement corruption probe
Ukrainian officials held in drone procurement corruption probe

Irish Examiner

timean hour ago

  • Irish Examiner

Ukrainian officials held in drone procurement corruption probe

Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies say they have uncovered a major bribery scheme involving inflated military procurement contracts. In a joint statement published on social media, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said the suspects had taken bribes in a scheme that used state funds to buy drones and other military equipment at inflated prices. 'The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,' the statement said, adding offenders had received kick-backs of up to 30% of the contract value. The anti-corruption bodies did not identify the detainees, but said a Ukrainian politician, local district and city officials, and National Guard servicemen were involved. Four people have been arrested so far, they said. The Interior Ministry said the National Guard personnel implicated in the case were removed from their positions. Drones have become a crucial asset in modern warfare for both Ukraine and Russia, enhancing military reconnaissance, precision strikes, and strategic flexibility on the battlefield. NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and Head of the SAPO Oleksandr Klymenko delivered a report. A Ukrainian MP, along with heads of district and city administrations and several National Guard servicemembers, were exposed for bribery. I am grateful to the anti-corruption agencies for… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 2, 2025 The majority of Russian military assets destroyed by Ukrainian forces, including manpower and heavy weaponry, have been targeted by drones. Drone production is also a key aspect of Kyiv's hopes to expand domestic military production and export markets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the development in his nightly address on Saturday, calling the scheme 'absolutely immoral' and thanking the anti-corruption agencies for their work. 'Unfortunately, these corruption schemes involved the procurement of electronic warfare systems and FPV drones. There must be full and fair accountability for this,' he said in his address, posted to X. The exposure of the graft scheme by NABU and SAPO came just two days after Ukraine's parliament voted to restore the agencies' independence. In an earlier post, which also included photos of him meeting with the agency heads, Mr Zelensky said it is 'important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently', adding: 'The law passed on Thursday guarantees them all the tools necessary for a real fight against corruption.' Ukraine's Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the bill presented by Mr Zelensky, reversing his earlier contentious move that curbed their power and sparked a backlash, including street protests, a rarity in wartime.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store