Authorities confirmed Sunday that drone and missile strikes killed 19 people across Russia and Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure on both fronts.
With front-line fighting largely stalemated and diplomatic talks at an impasse, both sides have dramatically intensified long-range attacks behind enemy lines, raising civilian casualties to their highest point since the war’s opening months in 2022.
Regional Governor Yuri Slusar reported that Ukrainian drone swarms killed five residents in a southern Rostov settlement.
Three additional fatalities were recorded in the Belgorod, Kursk and Moscow regions, while four others died in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov called the assault “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory,” while Russia’s defence ministry reported intercepting 822 drones nationwide overnight.
Kyiv market hit
A barrage of Russian drones and missiles struck ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Kryvyi Rih, killing two and wounding 14; the facility is President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown.
ArcelorMittal announced it had partially halted operations after the strike damaged the plant’s core production facilities, which are among Ukraine’s largest steel-producing capacities.
A further strike hit Kryvyi Rih on Sunday evening, resulting in one fatality.
Additional strikes hit the Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Donetsk regions, killing two in the southeast, one near the Sumy border and another in eastern Donetsk.
Kyiv’s Pochaina outdoor book market, a longtime venue for rare and antiquarian volumes, was struck, with bookseller Dmytro Semenukha confirming all four of his stalls were reduced to ash.
“There used to be a store. And books, and flags of all the countries, all the countries. Tons of everything. And that’s it,” the 45-year-old told AFP.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated overnight that wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they strike civilian infrastructure.
President Zelensky reported that Ukrainian cities had been pummelled over the past week by more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles, as he renewed his appeal to allies for enhanced air defence.
Spillover to Europe
Russia has conducted near-daily missile and drone strikes across Ukraine since initiating its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Russia has recently intensified ballistic missile attacks, exploiting Ukraine’s air-defence gaps created by supply diversions following the US-Israeli conflict against Iran.
“When North Korean ballistic missiles destroy infrastructure and claim lives here in Europe, European interceptors cannot simply be allowed to sit in storage,” Zelensky said.
Kyiv has recently renewed allegations that Moscow is receiving additional missiles and troops from its ally North Korea.
Neighboring states have increasingly borne the brunt of the drone war, with Romania’s defence ministry reporting that a Spanish F-18 fighter jet downed a drone that breached its airspace near the Ukraine-Moldova border overnight.
NATO confirmed Friday that its fighter jets downed a drone entering Latvian airspace, the second such incident in a week, per Latvia’s defence ministry.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses of Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries, alleging the company supplies components for Russian drones.
Another Wildberries warehouse near Moscow was set ablaze by Ukrainian drones overnight, the latest in a series of strikes since mid-July that have targeted roughly 20 facilities linked to the company.
President Zelensky asserts that those strikes, including attacks on oil refineries, are designed to undermine Russia’s war economy.
UN figures show 437 civilians killed in Ukraine in July, the highest monthly toll since May 2022.
Russian authorities reported 79 civilian deaths in July, an increase from the previous month.
