The battlefield is changing above the ground, as longer-range attacks stretch air defenses, widen the target list, and leave civilians facing a growing threat.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s full-scale war against Ukraine is increasingly shifting into the air. Although the front line has largely remained unchanged, both sides are intensifying long-range drone and missile attacks. Their strike capabilities are increasingly outpacing air defense capacities.<\/p>\n
The result is damage to energy and economic infrastructure, as well as a rising number of civilian deaths and injuries. Olga Polishchuk, ACLED\u2019s research manager for Eastern Europe, noted the growing number of attacks, casualties, and expanding range of targets.<\/p>\n
Ukraine steps up drone strikes on Russia<\/p>\n
Ukraine had previously carried out strikes deep inside Russian territory, far from the front line, but over the past year its drone technology has improved significantly. In late June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a 40-day campaign to intensify drone attacks deep inside Russia. According to his adviser, the approach was expected to continue.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian forces are increasingly targeting facilities linked to Russia\u2019s energy sector, military logistics, and economy. These include:<\/p>\n
oil refineries;
\ntankers;
\nelectrical substations;
\nRussian military logistics facilities in the occupied part of eastern Ukraine;
\nWildberries warehouses.<\/p>\n
Kyiv has stated that Wildberries warehouses may be considered legitimate military targets because the company supplies Russian troops at the front. Ukrainian drones have also repeatedly reached Moscow and penetrated Russian defenses near St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Natia Seskuria, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, believes that large-scale strikes have not only symbolic but also practical significance. They may slow Russia\u2019s summer offensive by forcing it to devote more resources to locating and intercepting Ukrainian drones.<\/p>\n
Russia previously concentrated its air defense assets mainly near the Ukrainian border and directly along the front line. However, the growing number of targets deep inside Russia is forcing it to spread its defense systems across a much wider area.<\/p>\n
Russia retains the advantage in the scale of attacks<\/p>\n
Aerial escalation is taking place on both sides. Following attacks on Wildberries facilities, Russia also targeted warehouses belonging to the Ukrainian electronics retailer Rozetka.<\/p>\n
At the same time, ACLED recorded a decline in the number of ground clashes. Russian forces are capturing individual small settlements, but their advance remains slow.<\/p>\n
Russia still carries out far more strikes against Ukraine than it suffers on its own territory. During one recent month, the average number of attacks was:<\/p>\n
Russia \u2013 172 attacks per day;
\nUkraine \u2013 28 attacks per day.<\/p>\n
Russian forces are increasing the number of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles used in a single attack in an attempt to overwhelm Ukraine\u2019s air defenses.<\/p>\n
According to CSIS estimates, Russia launched 139 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in July \u2013 the highest figure since the start of the year. To intercept such missiles, Ukraine needs US-made Patriot interceptors, which remain expensive and in short supply.<\/p>\n
During one of the large-scale strikes on Kyiv and the Kyiv region, at least 17 people were killed. Russia used more than two dozen ballistic and anti-ship missiles, none of which could be shot down.<\/p>\n
Rising civilian casualties and air defense shortages<\/p>\n
In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly number of civilian deaths and injuries in Ukraine since 2022. During the first half of the year, civilian casualties included:<\/p>\n
at least 1,396 people killed;
\n7,978 injured;
\n37% more casualties than during the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n
Most of those killed and injured were in areas controlled by the Ukrainian government.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s Foreign Ministry claimed that at least 797 civilians had allegedly been killed in Russia since the beginning of the year. However, these figures could not be independently verified. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, although residents of cities near the front have described constant attacks by small drones as a \u201cdrone safari.\u201d<\/p>\n
The intensification of the air war is increasing Ukraine\u2019s need for air defense systems, especially Patriot interceptor missiles. Restrictions on US assistance and dwindling weapons stockpiles are making it more difficult to protect Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Analysts believe that without significant domestic pressure on Russia, the prospects for a swift diplomatic end to the war remain low. Under current conditions, the risk of further escalation in reciprocal air strikes persists, and civilians continue to pay the highest price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The battlefield is changing above the ground, as longer-range attacks stretch air defenses, widen the target list, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[774,543,212,239,82,598,6],"class_list":["post-29468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-air-defense","tag-civilian-casualties","tag-drone-strikes","tag-missile-attacks","tag-news","tag-patriot-missiles","tag-russia-ukraine-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}