A two-hour Russian attack killed 17 people, injured at least 44 and struck warehouses, businesses and a postal facility as Ukraine’s shortage of Patriot interceptors left its defenses unable to stop any incoming ballistic missiles.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A large-scale Russian missile and drone assault struck Kyiv and its surrounding region overnight, killing 17 people and injuring at least 44 as Ukraine’s depleted air defenses failed to intercept any of the ballistic missiles launched during the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
The roughly two-hour barrage hit commercial and logistical sites across the capital region, including a brewery, a construction-material warehouse, a mail-sorting center and facilities belonging to one of Ukraine’s largest retail chains.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles, four additional missiles identified as either hypersonic Zircon weapons or supersonic Onik cruise missiles, and 115 drones. Many of the drones were jet-powered, making them more difficult to intercept because of their speed.
The attack was the latest in a series of major Russian strikes that have become increasingly frequent during the summer as Moscow takes advantage of Ukraine’s severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles.
The U.S.-made Patriot system is the only weapon in Ukraine’s air-defense inventory capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. The number of interceptors remaining in Ukrainian stocks has not been publicly disclosed.
Zelenskyy said after another Russian attack Friday night that Ukrainian forces had intercepted only one ballistic missile “solely because there are no missiles for the Patriots.”
Ukraine received only about one-third as many air-defense missiles during the first half of this year as it did during the same period in 2025, Zelenskyy said.
“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday on social media. “It is very important for our partners to understand that delays in supplying them, or a reluctance to hand over anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”
Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed to allied governments, particularly the United States, to provide more Patriot ammunition. Supplies have become increasingly scarce amid the war with Iran.
In the absence of additional deliveries, Zelenskyy has sought approval to manufacture Patriot ammunition in Ukraine. He has also asked Elon Musk for permission to use the Starlink satellite communications network to help guide Ukrainian attacks against missile launch sites inside Russia.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s regional military administration, said Thursday would be observed as an official day of mourning for the 17 people killed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces targeted transportation, logistics and distribution facilities connected to Ukraine’s military operations, including four sites in Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials disputed that characterization, saying the strikes hit civilian businesses and storage centers unrelated to military activity.
“The enemy is attacking everything indiscriminately — retail warehouses, food storage facilities, logistics hubs, enterprises, building materials warehouses,” Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said on Facebook.
The conflicting Russian and Ukrainian accounts concerning the military significance of the damaged facilities could not immediately be independently reconciled.
Ukraine’s largest private postal operator, Nova Poshta, said a Russian cluster munition destroyed one of its sorting centers in Kyiv.
Russia’s Defense Ministry described the facility as a center “storing and distributing dual-use goods, including those used in the production of long- and medium-range uncrewed aerial vehicles, as well as robotic systems and electronic warfare systems.”
The ministry also alleged that two other logistics centers in the Kyiv region held drones or components used in their production.
Mykhailo Hukov, an employee at a Kyiv warehouse, said an air-raid alert warning of a possible ballistic missile attack sounded shortly after midnight.
“So everyone started running,” Hukov told The Associated Press. “I turned everyone around so they wouldn’t go back inside for their backpacks.”
Workers reached an underground shelter and heard “very loud explosions” minutes later, he said.
Epicentr, one of Ukraine’s largest retail and construction businesses, was among the companies whose facilities sustained heavy damage.
“In minutes, Russian missiles destroyed what the company had built over decades,” Epicentr said in a Facebook statement.
The company reported that one employee was killed and three others were injured.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Epicentr logistics center processed, sorted, stored and delivered dual-use goods and components used in drone manufacturing.
A brewery and a warehouse containing construction materials were also among the sites Zelenskyy identified as having been hit. He said the businesses had no connection to military activity.
Ivan Braga, a 46-year-old truck driver from Moldova, said he and a colleague fled their vehicle after it was struck by shrapnel and a blast wave during the attack.
“We didn’t even have time to grab our documents or anything else,” Braga told the AP. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d already been in Kyiv and had heard explosions before, but nothing like today.”
Russia separately claimed its forces struck three bulk carriers in the Black Sea south of Odesa, alleging that the vessels were transporting Ukrainian weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian authorities did not immediately comment on the claim.
The attack came as U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war appeared to remain stalled.
Zelenskyy has accepted President Donald Trump’s call for an unconditional ceasefire, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused the proposal.
Ukraine has responded by intensifying long-range strikes against important Russian economic and logistical targets, including oil refineries, in an effort to pressure Putin into negotiations.
Ukrainian drones recently struck another warehouse operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, in the Tula region south of Moscow, according to the company and the regional governor.
Ukraine has attacked more than a dozen Wildberries facilities in less than three weeks, asserting that the company supplies products that can be used by the Russian military. Kyiv has also sought to unsettle the Russian public through prominent strikes deep inside the country.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces intercepted 475 Ukrainian drones overnight across 16 Russian regions, as well as over Russian-occupied Crimea and the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The latest exchange underscored the expanding scale of long-range attacks by both countries as diplomatic efforts remain deadlocked and Ukraine struggles to obtain the interceptor missiles needed to defend its cities from Russian ballistic weapons.
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