A widespread Russian missile and drone assault across Ukraine overnight resulted in the deaths of at least 10 civilians, including children, and injured over 50 others. The barrage, which saw a Russian ballistic missile cross into Polish airspace, prompted NATO to scramble fighter jets.
The overnight blitz intensified Russia's near-daily bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, where tens of thousands spent the night sheltering in subway stations. Officials stated that Russia launched more than 70 missiles, a significant number of them ballistic, and over 280 attack drones, though Ukrainian air defenses intercepted more than 260 drones.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its targets included Ukrainian air bases, arms factories, and military telecommunications and logistics facilities, such as drone factories, storage depots, and plants for missile repair, aircraft repair, electronics, and chemicals. However, civilian areas were hit, with dozens of homes, businesses, and infrastructure facilities destroyed or damaged across at least 10 Ukrainian regions.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, six people were killed and 10 injured. Among the deceased were a 6-year-old girl and two boys, aged 11 and 17, in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Their parents were also killed in the same attack, though two other children were rescued alive from the rubble, according to Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy described the incident as an "ordinary home, blown (to) smithereens by a ballistic missile." In Kyiv, ballistic missile strikes killed a 31-year-old man and injured two others, according to the National Police. More than 56,000 people took refuge in the city's subway system overnight.
The western city of Lviv was struck by a cruise missile, killing one person and injuring over 30, including children aged 6, 13, and 15, said Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional military administration. In the Poltava region, a drone hit warehouses, resulting in one fatality, according to regional military head Vitalii Diakivnych. Closer to the front lines, Russian forces dropped three glide bombs on an industrial zone in the southern city of Kherson, killing a 56-year-old man.
The incident involving Poland occurred when a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile entered Polish airspace, violating NATO territory, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it "a very serious incident" but stated there were "absolutely no reasons to believe that Poland was the target." NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte condemned it as "yet another reckless act by Russia and a dangerous consequence of its war against Ukraine."
Responding to the missile alert, NATO forces in Poland scrambled two fighter jets, an attack helicopter, and two other aircraft, activating ground defenses. The missile quickly disappeared from radar, and investigators later found fragments in a rural area of Lublin province consistent with a Kh-101 missile, the Polish Armed Forces reported.
The attack came two days after President Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump and representatives of American defense companies to plead for swifter and bigger deliveries of Patriot air defense systems. Zelenskyy noted the critical shortage of air defense missiles from partners and praised the efforts of Ukrainian forces, stating, "Given the critical shortage of air defense missiles from our partners, our warriors are accomplishing truly incredible things, demonstrating a very high level of professionalism." He added, "This Russian terror once again proves that protection against the Russian missile threat is the most important task when it comes to saving the lives of our people." Trump has promised to grant Ukraine licenses to build its own Patriots, but production could take many months.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses downed 258 Ukrainian drones overnight. Separately, Ukrainian drones reportedly struck warehouses belonging to the Russian online retailer Wildberries in Sarapul and the Perm region, causing fires. This brings the total number of Wildberries depots struck by Ukrainian drones to 14 in under two weeks, as Ukraine accuses the company of supplying goods usable by the Russian military. Wildberries reported that workers were safely evacuated from its Sarapul warehouse.
Additionally, Ukrainian drone units reported destroying four more vessels belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet" of sanctions-busting tankers, bringing the total to 205 since the operation began July 6, according to Robert Brovdi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces.
