At least 29 people were killed after Russia launched a barrage of missiles targeting what it claimed were defense sites across Ukraine, including a children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials reported. Over 60 people were injured in the latest attacks that hit medical facilities, electrical substations, and residential buildings.
In Kyiv, 10 people were killed and at least 35 wounded in the rare daylight aerial attack. Witnesses described the chaos at the children’s hospital, where parents holding babies wandered outside, dazed and sobbing. “It was scary. I couldn’t breathe, I was trying to cover [my baby],” Svitlana Kravchenko, 33, told Reuters.
In Kryvyi Rih, 11 people were killed, and 40 others injured in what Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul described as a “massive missile attack.” In addition, four people died when another medical facility in Kyiv was hit, and three were killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk. One person was reported dead in Dnipro.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer, confirmed damage to three substations and electricity networks in Kyiv. The country’s power grid has sustained repeated damage from Russian air strikes since March. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that over 40 missiles of different types struck apartment buildings and public infrastructure in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk. He urged global condemnation of Russia’s actions.
The attacks coincided with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s unexpected visit to Beijing to discuss a potential Ukraine peace deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a three-day NATO summit in Washington, DC.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, among their most advanced weapons, which fly at 10 times the speed of sound, making them difficult to intercept. The Air Force claimed to have downed 30 out of 38 missiles.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov called for more air defense systems from allies to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Oleksandr Kraiev, director of the North America program at Ukrainian Prism, noted that Russian rockets managed to penetrate Kyiv’s defenses by using advanced techniques to disturb anti-air systems.
Zelenskyy met Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Monday, with Tusk emphasizing that no peace agreement could be decided without Kyiv’s input. Zelenskyy announced plans to seek a United Nations Security Council meeting to address the latest attacks.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the assault on the city as one of the heaviest since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. In June, Russian attacks across various Ukrainian cities resulted in at least 12 deaths, including four children. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, claiming its forces struck defense industry sites and aviation bases. The Russian Ministry of Defence attributed damage in Kyiv to a Ukrainian air defense missile.
