Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia kill at least five

Missile strike on Kyiv

Russian forces launched ballistic missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Tuesday, 11 August, shortly after midnight local time (23:00 GMT on Monday). Air raid sirens began sounding shortly before a series of loud detonations were heard across the city, as confirmed by journalists from AFP and Reuters on the ground. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media that the city was "under ballistic missile attack" and urged residents to remain in shelters.

Explosions in the capital. The city is under fire. Stay in the shelters.

Emergency services were dispatched to the Shevchenkivsky district in the city centre, though no further details were initially provided. The city's military administration reported that warehouses in a central district were ablaze. Medical personnel were also sent to a central district, according to Klitschko. At least one person was wounded in Kyiv, city authorities said, while France 24 reported that at least three people were injured across the attacks overall. Reuters witnesses reported explosions in the city.

Zaporizhzhia casualties

In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian attack killed at least five people and wounded 20 others, regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov announced on Telegram. Fedorov said Russian forces had struck industrial facilities and infrastructure, adding that a garage cooperative and residential buildings were damaged. He warned that the casualty count was still rising.

Five people killed, a further 20 wounded: sadly, the number of casualties continues to rise following the enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia.

The attack on Zaporizhzhia was part of a broader wave of Russian strikes targeting multiple Ukrainian cities overnight using ballistic missiles. Russia has been increasingly deploying long-range missiles against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks.

Strikes on Sumy and Russian air defence

Russian bomb strikes on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy injured at least five people and damaged a number of residential areas, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov. Separately, Russia said it intercepted 456 Ukrainian drones in overnight attacks targeting around 15 Russian regions, including Tatarstan in central Russia and annexed Crimea. Ukraine has been increasing its strikes against Russian cities far from the border.

Air defence shortages and North Korean involvement

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the previous day that Russia was preparing to deploy more North Korean troops on its territory and had received new ballistic missiles from Pyongyang. According to France 24, as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be deployed to Russia, reflecting growing military cooperation between the two countries. Russia has intensified ballistic missile strikes against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, as Ukraine warns Moscow is bolstering its more than four-year war effort with further North Korean support. Only certain air defence systems, including US-made Patriot batteries, are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. A shortage of PAC-3 interceptor missiles for these batteries has worsened since the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in February. The Ukrainian armed forces, after four and a half years of war, have several Patriot systems but not enough interceptor missiles.