Eight people, including six members of one family, killed in Russian airstrike on Ukraine
Eight people, including six members of a single family, were killed in Russian strikes targeting Ukraine from Wednesday night into Thursday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for Kyiv’s allies to provide additional air defense systems to counter “Russian terrorism.”
In a village near Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, six members of one family—three adults and three children—were killed by a ballistic missile strike on a home, according to police and local authorities.
“It was an ordinary home, turned into rubble by a ballistic missile,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
In Kyiv, one person was killed and two others injured, according to local authorities. Several explosions were heard overnight following air raid sirens, prompting large numbers of residents to rush to subway stations.
Galyna Dushok, a 27-year-old photojournalist, told AFP, “Of course, I want to go out in the evening, dance, and go on dates, but instead, I come home from work thinking only about preparing and quickly heading to the subway stations.”
She added, “But this is our reality. We must live with it, learn to find a glimmer of hope, and find a way forward even when others see only the end.”
In Poltava, in central Ukraine, a drone strike hit a private company’s premises, killing one person, according to military authorities.
At least five people were injured in Lviv, in western Ukraine, where local authorities also reported people trapped under the rubble of a building.
These nighttime attacks followed Zelenskyy’s warning on Wednesday evening of a “high probability” that Russia would launch a large-scale attack during the night.
Writing on X, he stated, “The Russians have been preparing for a large-scale attack for a few days, and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight,” urging residents to take shelter.
He emphasized that Ukraine faces a “significant shortage” of air defense missiles supplied by its allies.
European Council President António Costa said in a statement on X on Thursday that these attacks “once again confirm that Russian aggression poses a threat to the security of all Europe.”
The Ukrainian Air Force reported intercepting 55 of the 74 missiles fired overnight, most of them ballistic, and downing 265 of the 284 Russian drones launched.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed it had targeted “facilities of the military-industrial complex and logistical and communication centers in the cities of Kyiv and Lviv,” as well as in other areas, including Dnipro, where Kryvyi Rih is located.
In Poland, authorities announced on Thursday the discovery of a crater in an uninhabited area in the east of the country, believed to be the impact site of a projectile linked to Russian air raids on Ukraine overnight.
An investigation has been launched to determine the origin and nature of the projectile. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated it was a “Russian Kh-101 cruise missile,” confirming that its entry into Polish airspace constituted “a violation of the airspace of a NATO member state.”
Russia has intensified its strikes with ballistic missiles in recent weeks, which can only be intercepted by specific systems, including the American Patriot system.
Ukraine suffers from a severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles, a situation exacerbated since the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy discussed with US counterpart Donald Trump at the White House the possibility of Ukraine producing Patriot interceptor missiles, following Trump’s indication in early July of his willingness to allow Kyiv to manufacture these missiles on its own territory.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has escalated its attacks with long-range drones deep inside Russian territory in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure and military objectives.
Two warehouses belonging to the Russian company Wildberries were hit in new overnight drone attacks by Ukrainian forces, marking the latest strike on the e-commerce group, which has faced repeated Ukrainian attacks over the past two weeks, according to the company and local authorities.
