Russia launches largest ballistic missile attack on Kyiv since 2022, killing one and wounding 15

The attack

In the early hours of 19 July, Russia launched its largest ballistic missile barrage against Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Air raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital around 1:30 a.m. local time, and over the next 40 minutes approximately 40 ballistic missiles were fired, alongside 41 cruise missiles and 125 attack drones, according to Ukrainian Air Force reports. The salvo included 25 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 10 Tsirkon anti-ship missiles repurposed for land attack, and projectiles from S-400 systems. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 18 of the 41 missiles and neutralized 108 of the 125 drones, but 23 missiles and 10 drones struck targets across 20 locations, with debris falling in 18 additional sites.

Casualties and damage

Kyiv city authorities confirmed one person killed and between 15 and 17 injured, with the most seriously wounded taken to hospital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported fires in five districts: Dniprovskyi, Desnianskyi, Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi. A dormitory, a residential high-rise on Vaclav Havel Street, a supermarket, and a shopping center were among the structures hit. The ceiling of the Lukianivska metro station partially collapsed, and the station will remain closed until further notice. Over a dozen parked cars were damaged, and windows were blown out in nearby apartment blocks. Nearly 600 rescue workers were deployed, and operations continued into Sunday morning.

Fires broke out across the city after a series of powerful explosions. A dormitory, an apartment block, and a supermarket were burning.

International reaction

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called the attack the most intense use of ballistic and cruise missiles since the invasion began and linked it directly to the security of NATO's eastern flank. He wrote on X that the barrage shows how detached from reality are voices calling for weaker support for Ukraine or a slowdown in the modernization of the Polish armed forces. He added that Poland is doing everything to ensure Russian missiles never reach Polish territory.

That is why we are doing everything to make sure Russian missiles never fly over Poland and nothing threatens our security. We will not back down on this!

Air defense gaps

Acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed that Russia used the largest number of ballistic missiles in a single attack since 2022, describing it as a brutal terrorist attack on the capital. He called for decisive pressure on Moscow to end the terror. President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that protection against ballistic missiles has become Ukraine's constant and highest priority, and that interceptor missiles are needed every day. The U.S.-made Patriot system remains the most effective countermeasure, but Kyiv has been warning for months about a shortage of interceptor rounds.

Russia launched the largest number of ballistic missiles since the start of the war — around 40 — in a brutal terrorist attack on the capital of Ukraine, killing and injuring people.

Protection against ballistic missiles is now a constant and highest priority. Interceptor missiles are needed every day.

Weekly toll

Zelensky also summarized the past week's Russian strikes: approximately 1,450 attack drones, more than 1,640 guided aerial bombs, and 99 missiles of various types targeted Ukrainian territory. The attacks spanned at least 14 regions, including Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Cherkasy. A fresh air raid alert was issued in Kyiv before 7 a.m. Polish time on Sunday, warning of a renewed missile threat from the northeast.