Russia's Attack on Ukraine Kills 8
PHOTO CAPTION: A woman reacts near an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine July 30, 2026. REUTERS/Roman Baluk
KYIV, July 30 — Russia launched more than 70 missiles and about 280 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing eight people, including children, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday as he renewed calls for more air-defense support from allies.
Zelenskiy said the capital Kyiv and the western Lviv region near the Polish border were the main focus of the attack, citing the Ukrainian air force.
“So far, eight people have been reported killed across the country,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. He added that dozens of people were injured and were receiving medical care.
Ukraine’s air force said air defenses shot down 55 missiles and 265 drones, but only one of nine ballistic missiles. It said 11 missiles and 17 drones hit targets at 20 locations.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s air-defense units helped save lives despite what he described as slow deliveries and shortages of interceptor missiles.
The U.S.-made Patriot system is the only weapon in Ukraine’s arsenal capable of shooting down Russia’s ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound, but Patriots remain in chronically short supply, the article said.
Regional officials said six people, including three children, were killed in a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Authorities declared Friday a day of mourning there.
Officials also reported one death in Kyiv and one in Poltava in central Ukraine.
In Kyiv, where air alerts lasted more than five hours overnight, thousands of residents took shelter in metro stations.
Poland, a member of the European Union and NATO, scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace during the attack.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said a Russian cruise missile crossed into Poland after authorities there found a crater and debris in a field following reports of an explosion.
In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said a Russian missile hit a residential apartment building but did not explode. The building’s roof and upper floors were damaged as emergency crews worked to pull people out.
“I was terrified watching the rescuers go beneath those concrete slabs,” a resident identified as Marko told Reuters. “I’m proud that we have rescuers who aren’t afraid to go into situations where those slabs could collapse on them.”
City officials said about 30 people were injured in Lviv, including three children. Two residential buildings, a school and two kindergartens were damaged, they said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had struck what it described as military facilities across Ukraine, from Kyiv to Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as three cargo ships.
With the war now in its fifth year, both Russia and Ukraine have escalated long-range air attacks, while movement on the 1,200-kilometer front line has slowed as the widespread use of drones has made major breakthroughs more difficult.
Russian officials also said a Wildberries warehouse in Penza caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack. Regional governor Oleg Melnichenko said one person was injured and about 200 people were evacuated from the site.
Wildberries said another facility in Sarapul in Russia’s Udmurtia region also caught fire after a drone attack.
Ukraine has increasingly struck Russian energy facilities and refineries. Senior Ukrainian officials say the attacks are intended to reduce Russia’s budget revenues and its ability to continue the war.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed 258 drones overnight, including in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
(Source: Reuters)
