Russian Missile and Drone Barrage Kills Nine in Kyiv as Ukraine Urges More Air Defenses

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Russia launched a massive overnight barrage of ballistic missiles and drones against Ukraine's capital early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring 33 others in Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed urgent appeals for additional Western air defense systems to counter intensifying Russian attacks.

The assault came just two days after another large-scale Russian strike that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 50 across Ukraine, highlighting Moscow's sustained pressure as Kyiv faces a shortage of Western-supplied Patriot anti-ballistic missile interceptors.

According to Ukraine's State Emergency Service, a five-story residential building in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district was struck by falling debris, triggering a fire. Rescue crews evacuated 35 residents from the upper floors, while two people were killed and eight others injured, including two children.

The deadliest damage occurred in the capital's Darnytskyi district, where seven people were killed and 14 injured after explosions ignited fires and damaged homes, vehicles, administrative buildings, and other structures.

Emergency responders also extinguished a fire in a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, while additional damage to commercial and residential properties was reported elsewhere in the city.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Lithuania's embassy in Kyiv sustained damage after missiles struck nearby overnight.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out a "massive strike" targeting Ukraine's military-industrial facilities and logistics centers in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy renews Patriot appeal

Following the latest attacks, Zelenskyy again called on the United States and its Western allies to provide more Patriot missile defense systems and interceptor missiles.

"Every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people. And every night without them results in more casualties," the Ukrainian president wrote on X.

Late Friday, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with U.S. Vice President JD Vance following what he described as a "positive and productive" meeting with President Donald Trump earlier this week in Washington.

"The Russian air strikes on our country continue and air defense, specifically interceptors for Patriot systems against ballistic missiles, remains a top priority," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

At NATO's July summit in Ankara, Trump said the United States would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot systems. However, during a Cabinet meeting Friday at Camp David, he indicated that no final decision had yet been made.

Residents describe mounting fear

Kyiv residents described increasingly frequent attacks that have transformed daily life.

Liudmyla Nakonechna, 64, said she was awakened around 1:30 a.m. by powerful explosions before taking shelter in a basement.

"I ran into the corridor and was standing there when the bathroom door was blown off its hinges and struck me in the leg," she told AP, adding that shattered glass destroyed her balcony and bedroom windows.

Having undergone cancer treatment, Nakonechna said she had avoided shelters since Russia's military operations began in February 2022 but could no longer endure the psychological strain.

"It's getting worse by the day," she said. "Whereas before there was an attack once every two weeks, or maybe once a week, now it happens practically every day. It is incredibly hard to bear this psychologically."

Fighting intensifies on both sides

Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said a Russian airstrike killed one civilian and wounded five others in the southern city of Kherson.

In Russian-occupied Crimea, Moscow-installed officials reported that a Ukrainian drone attack killed a 60-year-old woman and injured two others in Sevastopol.

Zelenskyy also announced that Ukrainian drones struck three Russian oil refineries overnight in Bashkortostan, nearly 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) from Ukraine. He said the facilities process millions of tons of oil annually and are part of Russia's war-supporting infrastructure.

Russian outlet Astra reported that a refinery in the regional capital, Ufa, caught fire after the attack, while local authorities acknowledged smoke at an industrial site caused by debris from a downed drone.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian oil infrastructure with long-range domestically produced drones and missiles, aiming to disrupt fuel supplies that support Moscow's military campaign.

Zelenskyy further claimed that a sanctioned Russian container ship, the Yanina, sank in the Black Sea after being struck by Ukrainian drones, describing the vessel as part of Russia's wartime logistics network.

Russia's state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, whose shipping subsidiary FESCO operates the vessel, disputed that characterization, saying the ship was transporting civilian cargo, including frozen food and construction materials.