Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine on July 30-31, firing over 70 missiles and about 280 drones at Kyiv, Lviv, Kryvyi Rih, and other cities, killing at least 13 people including 3 children in Kryvyi Rih, and one person each in Kyiv and Poltava [1, 2, 3, 4]. Ukraine's air defenses intercepted 55 missiles and 265 drones but struggled to intercept the nine ballistic missiles fired due to a shortage of Patriot interceptors [1, 3, 5]. The United Nations reported significant damage to civilian buildings and infrastructure with more than a hundred people injured, warning that attacks on civilians violate international law [6].
On August 1, Russia struck Kyiv again with 27 ballistic missiles, killing between 3 to 9 people and injuring 15 or more, according to various sources [7, 8, 3, 5, 9]. The Lithuanian Embassy in Kyiv was damaged when two Russian missiles fell nearby, prompting Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys to announce plans to summon the Russian embassy representative in protest [3, 5]. Polish fighter jets scrambled after Russian missiles briefly crossed into Polish airspace during the attacks [1, 2].
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western allies to provide more air defense weapons, saying the current Patriot missile interceptors are depleted. "Only the extraordinary expertise of Ukrainian air defence units helped save lives when air defence missiles were not provided or delivered slowly," he said [1, 5, 10]. He also called for the immediate use of Patriot missile systems stored in warehouses, stating, "The Patriot missile systems should not be in warehouses, they should be put to use now" [5].
Analysts noted Russia’s strategy aims to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses with ballistic missile attacks intended to damage cities and infrastructure [5, 10]. Russia likely used North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 missiles in attacks near Kryvyi Rih, marking their first known usage in over a year [11].
On July 29, President Zelensky met US President Trump to request additional Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine in response to the escalating attacks [12, 10, 4].
The missile attacks and air defense struggles underscore urgent calls for increased Western military support as Russia continues sustained attacks on Ukrainian cities.
