Russian drone and missile barrage kills eight in Ukraine

Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine, resulting in at least eight fatalities and damage to residential, industrial, and infrastructure buildings, according to Ukrainian officials. The attacks targeted Kyiv, the northern city of Pryluki, and the central Poltava region, killing two people in Kyiv, four in Pryluki, and two in Poltava.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights, lamented the latest terror act, adding that people must continue planning their work despite ongoing threats. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia launched 130 drones, 48 cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, yet downed 161 targets. Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv bore the brunt of the Russian assaults, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The Russian defence ministry claimed its forces executed a massive strike on military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions using high-precision land, sea, and air-launched weapons, as well as drones. The targets encompassed sites where the Ukrainian defence company Fire Point manufactures and stores its Flamingo cruise missiles and medium- and long-range drones across Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kharkiv.

Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine had fired its first domestically-made ballistic missile in combat, produced by Fire Point, with further advancements expected by autumn, potentially reaching Moscow. In Pryluki, a Russian missile struck a five-storey residential building, killing four people on impact and injuring 20 more, with additional residents potentially buried under the debris.

Footage showed rescuers attempting to pull survivors from the rubble. Kyiv residents sought refuge in the city's underground metro stations, alerting them to impending attacks via Ukrainian officials and military intelligence. During the night, the capital experienced several loud explosions. Russian ballistic missiles also targeted Kyiv, alongside the drone attacks.

Ukraine has long faced a critical shortage of air defences, leading to repeated appeals for assistance and supplies by President Zelensky and other officials. Overnight air strikes in the southeastern city of Dnipro damaged an industrial facility, disrupted transport infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia, and damaged apartment buildings in Kremenchuk, according to regional officials on the Telegram app.