Russia kills 10 at Kyiv defence expo, Zelenskyy says event should never have been held
A Russian ballistic missile strike on a defence industry drone demonstration near Kyiv on Friday killed 10 people and injured nearly 100, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to say the event should never have taken place in wartime.
Attack on Kyiv drone exhibition
A Russian ballistic missile struck a privately operated military training site in the Bucha district, 20–30 kilometres north of central Kyiv, on 25 July, killing 10 people and wounding around 100. The site was hosting a defence industry event organised by a drone manufacturers’ association. Ukraine’s Emergency Services completed rescue operations at the scene, with images showing teams sifting through rubble adjacent to residential houses. Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko called the attack a war crime.
However, we have said a thousand times that under these wartime conditions, with such an enemy, it is absolutely unacceptable to hold any weapons exhibitions with large crowds of people, especially near residential buildings.
Acting Kyiv region governor Ruslan Oliynyk announced a day of mourning would be observed on Saturday. Russia’s Defence Ministry acknowledged the strike, saying it had used “high-precision long-range weapons” to target a demonstration of drones “used to strike civilian targets in Russia” and claimed that leading defence officials and military members were present.
Wider attacks and disruption
A separate Russian aerial bomb attack on Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine on Friday killed five people and injured nine, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the strike hit Latvia’s Honorary Consulate in the city. Power supplies were disrupted in five Ukrainian regions as a result of the day’s attacks. Over Romania, NATO jets downed a stray drone on Friday morning, with no reports of casualties or damage.
- Russian missile kills 10 at Kyiv drone exhibition, injures nearly 100; separate Sloviansk strike kills 5; Ukraine attacks Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg.
- Ukraine observes a day of mourning in Kyiv region.
- President Trump and President Zelenskyy scheduled to hold talks in Washington.
Ukraine strikes Wildberries again
Ukraine launched a drone attack on Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday, marking the fifth such strike since 18 July. Kyiv said the online retailer’s infrastructure supports the Russian military. Wildberries confirmed it had ceased operations at two regional logistics sites and evacuated staff from its Crimea warehouse; around 10 percent of its logistics capacity has been affected. A Reuters video showed two vast plumes of black smoke rising over the area.
Diplomatic moves and upcoming talks
In Kyiv, rightwing US influencer Laura Loomer interviewed President Zelenskyy in the garden of the presidential palace. Zelenskyy said he expected to attend the funeral of senator Lindsey Graham and hold talks with President Donald Trump in Washington next week. The White House confirmed that Trump and Zelenskyy would meet on Tuesday of next week, almost four and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Zelenskyy also stressed that “Interceptors for Patriot systems are the number one priority,” following a visit by a Raytheon delegation on Thursday.
Casualty toll and international concern
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia was losing a staggering number of troops, upwards of 5,000 to 6,000 a week, in the war. The Kremlin has not publicly commented on that figure. Across Europe, Kaja Kallas condemned the Sloviansk strike that hit a diplomatic premises, while Russia’s defence ministry continued to frame the Kyiv exhibition as a planning hub for attacks on its territory.
