Strikes kill 19 in Russia and Ukraine

In Russia and Ukraine, 19 people were killed in strikes on Sunday, as both sides intensified long-range attacks on civilian infrastructure. Russia employed drone and missile barrages against Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine launched drone attacks deeper into Russia. The fighting at the front remained stagnant, and diplomatic talks were frozen, leading to the highest civilian death toll since the war's early stages in 2022.

In Russia, Ukrainian drones killed five people in southern Rostov region and four others in occupied Ukrainian territories in Belgorod, Kursk, and Moscow regions. Ukraine reported two deaths and 14 injuries at an ArcelorMittal steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, where the facility partially halted operations due to damaged core production facilities. Other strikes claimed two lives in Zaporizhzhia region, one in Sumy, and one in Donetsk.

Kyiv's popular outdoor book market at Pochaina suffered significant damage, with all four stalls belonging to bookseller Dmytro Semenukha burning to the ground. President Zelensky criticized Russia's targeting of civilian infrastructure, revealing that Ukrainian cities had been hit by over 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs, and 62 missiles over the past week.

He appealed for more air defense assistance from allies, emphasizing that the North Korean ballistic missiles devastating European infrastructure and claiming lives should compel European interceptors to become active.

Borders of the conflict region have faced increasing spillover from the drone war. Romania's defense ministry reported a Spanish F-18 fighter jet shooting down a drone that breached its airspace near the borders with Ukraine and Moldova. NATO stated that its fighter jets had taken down a drone that entered Latvian airspace, the second incident in a week.

Ukraine has targeted Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, in an effort to undermine the Russian war economy. Since mid-July, 20 Wildberries warehouses and buildings were struck by Ukrainian drones. In July, 437 civilians lost their lives in Ukraine, the highest monthly toll since May 2022, with Russian authorities reporting 79 civilian casualties in the same month.