The attack came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that he would impose new tariffs on Russia within 10 days unless the Kremlin halts its full-scale war in Ukraine.
“Kyiv is under massive drone attack. Make no mistake, this is Putin’s response to President Trump’s deadline,» Meaghan Mobbs, daughter of U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, wrote on X. «He is testing American resolve and strength. We must not be found wanting.”
Ukraine’s Air Force Command reported that seven other regions of the country were targeted during the attack: Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv. A report published later in the day said 317 aerial targets were launched by Russia, including 309 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as 8 Iskander-K cruise missiles. 288 UAVs and 3 of the cruise missiles were intercepted.
Radio technician and military analyst Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov noted that Russian forces again used modified Iranian-designed Shahed drones equipped with jet engines — likely in response to Ukraine’s development of anti-aircraft drones designed to intercept standard Shaheds. In total, Ukrainian officials reported the launch of 300 drones and eight missiles.
The overnight Russian strike marks the latest in a series of attacks that have killed at least 27 people — including 16 inmates and a pregnant woman — over the past week. The woman was among three people killed in a missile strike that targeted a hospital in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Region, on the night of July 28-29. That same evening, a separate attack on a prison near the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia resulted in dozens of casualties.
“Russia bombed a penal colony near Zaporizhzhia overnight – 16 killed, 35 injured. Civilians continue to suffer. Another blatant war crime,” regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov wrote on X.
“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s response to our desire for peace, [shared] with America and Europe,” President Zelensky wrote in the wake of the latest attacks. “But to force Moscow to [make] peace, to make them sit at a real negotiating table — all the tools for this are available to our partners.”