A Russian missile and drone onslaught killed at least 17 people in Kyiv and injured more than 50 overnight, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to urgently appeal for better air defences.
Deadly strike on the capital
The attack, one of the most brutal this year, targeted the capital and its surrounding region, setting residential buildings, warehouses, and industrial sites ablaze. More than 30 explosions were heard in Kyiv during the night. Rescuers feared victims might still be trapped beneath wrecked buildings.
Ukraine's air defences are desperately exposed, believed to have exhausted their supply of US-made Patriot missiles – the only weapons capable of downing Russia's ballistic missiles, which are killing civilians.
Zelensky's plea to allies
Zelensky said: “It is crucial that our partners realise that delays in their delivery or a reluctance to provide anti-ballistic systems lead precisely to such horrific casualties and destruction. Partners who are not ready to help more actively with the supply of interceptors right now can help by imposing new sanctions.”
The appeal comes as US President Donald Trump has stepped back from a promise to help with Patriot production. Last month, Trump said: “We'll give them the right to make Patriots. We'll show them how to do it.” But weeks later, he appeared to retreat, saying no agreement had been reached and transferring such technology was “a hard thing to give away.”
Ukraine's response and ongoing attacks
Even as the bombs fell, Ukraine struck another major Russian Wildberries outlet with deep-strike drones, this time in the Tula region, amid Kyiv's accusations that the company supplies the military.
The Patriot PAC-3 system is the only weapon in Ukraine's arsenal reliably able to intercept Russia's Iskander-M ballistic missiles, which carry warheads powerful enough to destroy large sections of apartment buildings.
The attacks on civilians come as Russia's invasion shows signs of faltering, with troops unable to gain traction on the frontline. Zelensky recently revealed video evidence of Russia losing 30,727 military personnel to drone strikes alone in July.
Recent attacks on civilians
On August 1, a Russian ballistic missile attack killed nine people and injured more than 30, including four teenagers, damaging 13 apartment buildings, four private homes, administrative and commercial buildings, a film studio, a shop, and dozens of vehicles.
Two days earlier, on July 30, another missile attack killed one person and injured two in Kyiv, while five others were wounded in the region. Separate strikes that day hit Lviv and the town of Radushne in Dnipropetrovsk region, where five people, including two children, were killed.
