Russia fired what Ukraine’s foreign minister called the largest number of ballistic missiles at Kyiv since the war began, killing one person and wounding at least 14 in an hours-long overnight barrage that struck six districts of the capital.
The attack highlights mounting challenges for Ukraine in its fifth year of war. Patriot interceptor missiles, which are the country’s best chance of downing ballistic weapons, are in critically short supply. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the bombardment “one of the most massive ballistic attacks on Kyiv” since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described it as “a brutal terrorist attack on the Ukrainian capital” and demanded “devastating pressure on Moscow to end this terror.”
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 18 of 41 missiles launched overnight. The systems also intercepted 108 of 125 drones. The barrage involved Iskander and hypersonic Zircon missiles, according to the air force. Russia has launched several large-scale waves of attacks on Kyiv in July alone, using ballistic missiles on at least seven occasions at a time when Ukraine is short of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Fires spread across the city. The State Emergency Service reported damage to residential buildings, offices, industrial sites, a dormitory, and vehicles. Rescue workers pulled four people from a burning private home in the Sviatoshynskyi district. In the Shevchenkivskyi district, they rescued residents from a burning three-storey building. One person was later found dead. Firefighters also battled blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi, and Dnipro districts. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said a supermarket and a dormitory were among the damaged sites, and firefighters fought fires at two warehouses.
A week of escalating bombardment
The scale of Russian assaults has grown sharply. Zelensky said that in the past week Russia had “used about 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles of various types against Ukraine.” The toll extended beyond Kyiv. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, which borders the front line, Russian drone strikes killed one person, according to regional official Oleksandr Ganzha. In the Zaporizhia region, a Russian drone struck a passenger train, killing its conductor, Ukraine’s national railway company reported, sharing photos of rail cars in flames.
Ukraine strikes back
Ukraine has continued its own long-range attacks on Russian territory and assets. The Ukrainian military said drones hit two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, part of a strategy to starve Russian-occupied Crimea of fuel and supplies by targeting shipping. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which carries Kazakhstan’s Caspian oil to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, said its terminal had been hit, though there were no injuries or oil spills. The governor of Russia’s south-western Stavropol region said a drone attack caused a fire in an industrial park.
The overnight strikes on Kyiv came after Ukraine sent drones to destroy two warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, killing eight people and causing major fires. Seven deaths and 25 injuries occurred at a facility in Tambov, about 295 miles south-east of Moscow. One death and 37 injuries occurred at another Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal, near the capital. Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine’s operations were in response to “Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities.”
Ukraine has recently intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, causing widespread fuel shortages. Kyiv said earlier this month that nearly 43 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity had been “disabled” as a result. The BBC has not independently verified this figure. Ukraine says Russian oil and gas facilities are legitimate targets because Moscow relies heavily on fossil fuel exports to finance the war.
Domestic tensions in Ukraine are running high. Zelensky removed his defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, as part of a cabinet reshuffle, sparking protests on the streets and dismay among soldiers. Some critics said the decision to replace Fedorov just as Ukraine seemed to be gaining momentum was the worst mistake of his presidency.
The air defense shortage remains acute. Zelensky said on Sunday that “protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now.” He added: “Interceptors are needed every day, and I am grateful to everyone who takes our agreements seriously and ensures the delivery of anti-ballistic capabilities.” United States President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot interceptor missiles domestically, but the details and timeline remain unclear.