Eight killed in new wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine
Missile and drone strikes hit cities across the country; air defenses were overwhelmed.
On 30 July 2026 Ukraine was hit by a new, massive wave of Russian attacks; according to preliminary reports at least eight people were killed and more than 30 were injured while an air raid alert was declared across much of the country.
The attacks, according to Ukrainian reports, included dozens of rockets and cruise missiles and hundreds of drones, which, authorities said, were intended to overload air defenses. An air raid alert was activated virtually across the entire country during the nighttime strikes.
In the suburbs of the southern city of Kryvyi Rih, a missile struck a house where a large family lived — six people were killed at that location, including two children aged five and twelve, and eight people were injured. The full extent of the damage became apparent only at dawn, when rescue teams began searches at the affected sites.
Two more fatalities and several injured were reported in the capital Kyiv and in the Poltava region. In Lviv authorities reported 15 injured; after missile strikes in that city fires broke out in two large residential blocks near the Polish border, and photographs from the scene show large holes in buildings and rescue teams searching for survivors under the rubble. Journalists reported multiple waves of explosions during the night. These reports cannot be independently verified.
Earlier warning from Kyiv
President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned in advance of an imminent large Russian air strike. He said on social media that Russian forces had already carried out mass shelling of Ukraine in previous days and that the likelihood of a new nighttime attack was high, referring to a report by the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force and warning of a "massive attack".
Russia's Minister of Defense said that 258 Ukrainian drones had been shot down and confirmed the series of attacks on Ukraine. The ministry listed military airfields, special industry factories, military telecommunications infrastructure and logistics centers as targets, and announced that in the Black Sea regions three cargo ships used to transport military equipment and materials had been hit.
Photo: press material from the event
