Russia launches massive missile, drone attack on Kyiv, 9 dead

Russia unleashed one of its heaviest air assaults on Kyiv early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had run out of interceptor missiles for its U.S.-supplied Patriot air defense systems, leaving the capital increasingly exposed to ballistic missile attacks. Zelenskyy said Russia fired 35 missiles at Ukraine overnight, including 27 ballistic missiles, along with 185 drones. Ukrainian forces intercepted only one ballistic missile, which he said underscored the country's growing shortage of Patriot interceptors. "Every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "And every night without them results in more casualties." Reuters witnesses reported more than a dozen explosions echoing across Kyiv as successive waves of missiles and drones struck the city before dawn. The latest bombardment came as the war entered its fifth year. Fighting continues along roughly 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) of front lines, although Russia's territorial gains have slowed significantly this year. Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential area amid the Russian invasion, Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 1, 2026. (EPA Photo) At the same time, Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes inside Russia, targeting oil facilities, logistics hubs and weapons production sites. While the battlefield has largely stabilized, Russia has stepped up its campaign against Ukrainian cities. Kyiv and other urban centers have come under increasingly frequent ballistic missile attacks, exploiting Ukraine's chronic shortage of advanced air defense systems capable of intercepting missiles traveling at several times the speed of sound. Moscow and Kyiv continue to deny deliberately targeting civilians during the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Second major strike on Kyiv this week Saturday's attack marked the second major Russian strike on Kyiv this week, following Thursday's barrage that killed nine people, including six members of one family in a village near Kryvyi Rih. During that attack, a suspected Russian cruise missile also landed in neighboring Poland. Ukrainian authorities said damage was recorded across seven districts of Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people. Zelenskyy said the strikes sparked fires throughout the capital and damaged 18 residential buildings, a school, critical infrastructure and the Lithuanian Embassy. According to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, seven people were killed in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district on the eastern side of the Dnipro River, while two others died in the Solomyanskyi district on the western side of the city. Dozens more were injured, including four children who suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and cuts. Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike on a residential area amid the Russian invasion, Kyiv, Ukraine, Aug. 1, 2026. (EPA Photo) "I looked at my phone. It was 1:30 and the sirens were blaring," said 68-year-old apartment concierge Nadiia Komarova. "I was already dressed in bed, so I got up immediately. Then the explosions started, boom, boom. Our ceilings started crumbling. My window was shattered and everything fell inside." Reuters television footage showed emergency crews searching damaged residential buildings, firefighters battling blazes and burned-out vehicles lining nearby streets. Rescue workers were also seen carrying victims away from the scene. Lithuanian Embassy damaged The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Kyiv sustained damage after two missiles landed nearby during the attack. Although no embassy staff were injured, officials said windows were shattered, solar panels were damaged and debris littered the embassy grounds. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said one missile landed about 10 meters (33 feet) from the embassy, while another struck approximately 150 meters (492 feet) away. Budrys said Lithuania would summon a representative from the Russian Embassy to formally protest the attack. "We understand this will not stop this madness and aggression against Ukraine," Budrys said. "What can stop it is continued support for Ukraine, strengthening its resilience and increasing pressure on Russia through sanctions so it finally comes to the negotiating table." Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also renewed calls for additional Western air defense systems and interceptor missiles, warning that control of the skies remains critical to the course of the war. "It is the battle for the skies that will define the trajectory of this war," Sybiha said. "The stronger the air shield over Ukraine, the closer peace becomes."