KYIV, Ukraine, July 30 – A wave of Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine overnight left at least nine civilians dead and more than 50 others injured on Thursday, in one of the latest large scale assaults since the war began. The strikes targeted multiple regions across the country, including the capital, Kyiv, forcing thousands of residents to seek safety in underground subway stations as air raid sirens echoed through the night.
The overnight barrage also triggered heightened security concerns beyond Ukraine’s borders after a Russian cruise missile briefly entered Polish airspace before crashing in a rural area. Although no injuries or property damage were reported, the incident prompted NATO to deploy fighter jets and activate additional defensive measures, underscoring fears that the conflict could spill into neighboring alliance territory.
Russia Intensifies Air Campaign as Ukraine Faces Air Defense Challenges
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia launched more than 70 missiles, many of them ballistic, along with over 280 attack drones during the overnight assault. Ukrainian air defense units reportedly intercepted more than 260 drones, limiting the scale of destruction, but officials acknowledged that the country’s dwindling supply of advanced air defense interceptors continues to leave many areas vulnerable.
The attacks came just two days after Zelenskyy met U.S. President Donald Trump and representatives of major American defense companies, where the Ukrainian leader again appealed for faster deliveries of Patriot air defense systems. Ukraine has repeatedly argued that additional Patriot batteries are essential to counter Russia’s growing use of ballistic missiles.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly the recent war involving Iran, has significantly reduced available stocks of U.S. made Patriot interceptors. While President Trump has pledged to grant Ukraine licenses to manufacture Patriot systems domestically, defense experts believe meaningful production could take many months before becoming operational.
In a statement shared on social media, Zelenskyy praised Ukraine’s air defense personnel for continuing to protect the country despite shortages of interceptor missiles.
“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,” the Ukrainian president said.
He added that Russia’s latest attacks once again demonstrated that strengthening Ukraine’s missile defense capabilities remains the country’s highest priority for protecting civilian lives.
According to Zelenskyy, at least 10 Ukrainian regions came under attack during the overnight offensive. Residential buildings, commercial properties and critical infrastructure sustained heavy damage in multiple cities.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the strikes but maintained they were directed exclusively at military infrastructure. The ministry said its forces targeted Ukrainian air bases, military logistics centers, arms manufacturing facilities, drone production plants, aircraft repair workshops, missile manufacturing sites, electronic component factories and chemical facilities believed to support Ukraine’s defense industry.
Despite those claims, local Ukrainian authorities reported significant civilian casualties across several regions.
The Dnipropetrovsk region suffered the heaviest loss of life. Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, said six people were killed and ten others were injured in attacks around Kryvyi Rih, President Zelenskyy’s hometown.
Among those killed were three children, a six year old girl and two boys aged 11 and 17. Hanzha said the children’s parents also died in the same missile strike, while two younger children were rescued alive from beneath the rubble of the destroyed home.
Describing the devastation, Zelenskyy said an ordinary family house had been completely destroyed by a ballistic missile.
In Kyiv, Russian ballistic missiles struck parts of the capital, killing a 31 year old man and injuring two other people, according to Ukraine’s National Police. The city’s metro administration reported that more than 56,000 residents spent the night inside subway stations being used as bomb shelters during the prolonged air raid.
Western Ukraine was also hit during the offensive. Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, said a cruise missile strike killed one person and wounded more than 30 others, including children aged six, 13 and 15.
Elsewhere, regional officials reported that a drone strike in Ukraine’s Poltava region hit company warehouses, killing one civilian.
In the southern city of Kherson, local authorities said Russian forces dropped three guided glide bombs on an industrial district, killing a 56 year old man.
Missile Enters Poland as NATO Responds, Ukraine Expands Drone Campaign Inside Russia
The overnight attacks took on broader international significance after Poland confirmed that a missile entered its airspace during the Russian assault.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha identified the object as a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, saying its flight into NATO territory highlighted the wider security risks created by Russia’s continuing missile campaign. He argued that strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses would also enhance security across Europe.
According to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, radar tracked the missile after it crossed into Polish airspace. An F-16 fighter jet was immediately scrambled in an effort to intercept or identify the object, but it disappeared from radar shortly afterward.
Military helicopters later searched the missile’s last known location and discovered what officials described as a probable impact site in a farming area of Lublin province.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the incident as “a very serious incident” but emphasized there was no indication that Poland itself had been deliberately targeted.
Investigators examining debris recovered from the site concluded that the fragments were consistent with a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, according to Poland’s national news agency PAP.
The incident occurred only one day after Tusk met President Zelenskyy in the Polish city of Lublin, where both leaders discussed regional defense cooperation and ongoing military assistance for Ukraine.
NATO responded swiftly by deploying two fighter aircraft, an attack helicopter and two additional military aircraft while activating ground based air defense systems.
Colonel Michael O’Connell, spokesperson for NATO’s military command in Belgium, said Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Alexus G. Grynkewich assured Poland’s Defense Chief, General Wiesław Kukuła, that the alliance would continue taking all necessary measures to defend NATO territory against any threat.
Meanwhile, fighting also intensified inside Russia as Ukrainian forces continued their long range drone campaign.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defense systems intercepted 258 Ukrainian drones overnight across several regions.
Among the reported targets were warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer.
Penza Governor Oleg Melnichenko said a Ukrainian drone strike ignited a major fire at a Wildberries warehouse southeast of Moscow. Four people were injured, approximately 200 workers were safely evacuated and nearly 100 firefighters were dispatched to contain the blaze.
Wildberries also confirmed that another warehouse in Sarapul, located in Russia’s Udmurtia region more than 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, was struck and caught fire following another drone attack. Company officials said all employees were evacuated safely.
Russia’s independent news outlet Astra reported that a third Wildberries distribution center in the Perm region was also damaged in a separate Ukrainian drone strike, although regional authorities confirmed only that drones had targeted the area without providing detailed information on the destruction.
According to Ukrainian officials, Wildberries facilities have increasingly become targets because Kyiv alleges the retailer supplies products that can be used by the Russian military. Thursday’s attacks reportedly brought the total number of Wildberries warehouses struck within less than two weeks to 14.
Ukraine also continued targeting Russia’s maritime logistics. Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, announced on his Telegram channel that Ukrainian drone units destroyed four additional vessels belonging to Russia’s so called shadow fleet, a network of tankers allegedly used to circumvent international sanctions on Russian oil exports.
Brovdi said the latest operation increased the total number of shadow fleet vessels destroyed since July 6 to 205, reflecting Ukraine’s continuing strategy of targeting Russia’s economic and logistical infrastructure while defending against increasingly intense missile attacks on its own territory.