Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed 17 people and wounded 44 others overnight into Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, in an attack that damaged business facilities and a railway station, according to AP.
The barrage, which lasted around two hours, hit targets including a brewing company, a construction materials warehouse and a mail sorting centre, according to Zelenskyy, who said the sites had no connection to the war. Russia’s Defence Ministry, however, said the facilities were linked to military activities.
The strikes were the latest in a series of large-scale Russian ballistic missile attacks that have become increasingly frequent this summer. Ukraine has struggled with a severe shortage of interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot air defence systems, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of destroying ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy said supplies of air defence missiles delivered to Ukraine during the first half of this year had fallen to one-third of 2025 levels. He urged allies to provide more interceptors, saying delays in supplying them were directly linked to casualties and destruction.
“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelenskyy said in a social media post, calling on partners to understand the consequences of delays or reluctance to provide anti-ballistic systems.
With US-led peace efforts appearing stalled, Ukraine has increased attacks deep inside Russia, particularly targeting oil refineries, in an attempt to pressure President Vladimir Putin into negotiations. Zelenskyy has agreed to an unconditional ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump, but Putin has rejected it.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian drones struck a warehouse operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, in the Tula region south of Moscow, the company and the regional governor said.
Ukraine said it was the 14th Wildberries warehouse to catch fire in less than three weeks, claiming the company supplies goods that can be used by the military. Kyiv has also sought to unsettle Russian public opinion through high-profile attacks.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces destroyed 475 Ukrainian drones overnight across 16 Russian regions, as well as Crimea and waters in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles, four missiles identified as either hypersonic Zircon or supersonic Oniks weapons, and 115 drones during the attack. Many of the drones were described as jet-powered and more difficult to intercept because of their speed.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had struck transport, logistics and distribution facilities involved in military operations, naming four sites in Kyiv that it claimed were supporting war-related activities.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said the conflict had entered a new phase of attrition, with Russia attacking a broad range of facilities, including warehouses, storage sites, logistics hubs and enterprises.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the competing claims about the military importance of the locations hit. Mykhailo Hukov, a 40-year-old warehouse worker in Kyiv, said an air raid alert warning of a ballistic missile threat sounded shortly after midnight, leading to an immediate evacuation.
“Everyone started running,” he told The Associated Press. He said he stopped people from returning for their belongings before they reached an underground shelter, where they heard several powerful explosions.
Ukraine’s largest private postal operator, Nova Poshta, said a Russian cluster munition destroyed one of its sorting centres in Kyiv. Russia claimed the facility stored and distributed dual-use goods, including items used in the production of long- and medium-range drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.
The Russian ministry also said two other logistics centres in the Kyiv region contained drones or drone components.
It separately claimed Russian forces had struck three bulk carriers in the Black Sea south of Odesa that were allegedly transporting weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian officials did not comment on that claim.
