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Kyiv hit, interceptors lacking
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed at least 17 people and injured 44 others, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“Russia launched 115 drones and 28 missiles -- 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles”
Zelenskyy said the Tuesday night attack lasted about two hours and that the targets included a brewing company, warehouses for construction material, and a mail sorting office that he said had nothing to do with the war.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 115 drones and 28 missiles, including 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles, and that 98 drones were intercepted while none of the missiles were shot down.
The attack began after midnight with air raid sirens sounding across the capital for more than an hour, and Ukraine’s air force had earlier warned that ballistic missiles were incoming.
Zelenskyy said on social media, "Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today," tying the casualties to Ukraine’s shortage of interceptor missiles for U.S.-made Patriot systems.
Competing claims and voices
Ukrainian officials said the strikes mainly targeted warehouses belonging to civilian businesses, infrastructure, and a railway station, while Russia’s Defence Ministry said it struck transport, logistics and distribution centres involved in military activity.
Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy on defence technology development, said on Facebook, "The enemy is attacking everything indiscriminately — retail warehouses, food storage facilities, logistics hubs, enterprises, building materials warehouses," as the barrage hit multiple sites.
Zelenskyy also said the targets included entities unrelated to the war, including "a brewery, warehouses for building materials and civilian logistics facilities," while the Russian Defence Ministry asserted the facilities had military ties.
In Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said one warehouse near the city center was destroyed and that rescue teams pulled two people from the debris, adding, "Search and rescue operations are proceeding."
Zelenskyy later told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about securing more interceptor missiles, writing, "We coordinated our efforts regarding countries that have the necessary missiles and the capacity to help."
What comes next for Ukraine
Zelenskyy urged allies to replenish Ukraine’s supplies of interceptors, arguing that delays or reluctance to provide anti-ballistic systems lead directly to casualties and destruction.
“"And this concerns not only this summer period, but every period of the first half of 2026,"”
He said the number of air defense missiles supplied to Ukraine by allies has dropped threefold compared to 2025, and he linked the appeal to the need for "new steps" from the G7 and the European Union to protect life.
Russian officials, meanwhile, said its forces downed 475 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning, and the Russian Defence Ministry claimed its "massive strike" targeted "transport, logistics and distribution centers" in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
The attack also fed into a broader cycle of strikes and counterstrikes, with Ukraine hitting a Wildberries warehouse in the Tula region south of Moscow, and Russia reporting that it struck three bulk carriers on the Black Sea south of Odesa that it said were transporting weapons and military equipment.
Zelenskyy said he spoke to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and renewed his call for faster delivery of air defence systems, while the ABC News report said Ukraine’s air force failed to intercept any missiles amid a shortage of air defense munitions.
