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A woman is comforted by servicewoman as she cries at the scene of a night Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky)<\/p>\n
A woman is comforted by servicewoman as she cries at the scene of a night Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky)<\/p>\n
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Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of her home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just stress and shock that there is nothing left,\u201d said Zhabborova, a mother of a 5-month-old infant and a 5-year-old child. <\/p>\n
Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones, and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles. Five missiles and 21 drones struck targets.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.<\/p>\n
A drone attacked had sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia\u2019s Penza region, local Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said. He didn\u2019t immediately give further details other than to say that there were no casualties.<\/p>\n
In the Volgograd region, some trains were also halted after drone wreckage fell on local railway infrastructure, state rail operator Russian Railways said.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry also said that its forces took full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk region.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian officials, who typically don\u2019t confirm retreats, didn\u2019t immediately comment.<\/p>\n
Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine\u2019s eastern defenses.<\/p>\n
A report on Thursday from Ukraine\u2019s Army General Staff said there were seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed most of the town as being under Russian control. <\/p>\n
DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military and analysts, showed early Thursday that neighborhoods to the south and west of Chasiv Yar remained as so-called gray zones, or uncontrolled by either side.<\/p>\n
The attack targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine\u2019s capital being the primary target, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the world once again saw Russia\u2019s answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe,\u201d Zelenskyy said. \u201cNew demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called on Ukraine\u2019s allies to follow through on defense commitments and pressure Moscow toward real negotiations.<\/p>\n
Plumes of smoke emanating from a partially damaged building and debris strewn on the ground. The force of the blast wave was powerful enough to leave clothes hanging limply from trees.<\/p>\n
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky)<\/p>\n Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo\/Efrem Lukatsky)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he\u2019s giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline \u2014 Aug. 8 \u2014 for peace efforts<\/a> to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n