Russia Unleashes Its Largest Ballistic Missile Assault on Kyiv to Date

Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight on July 19, killing one person and injuring at least 15 others in Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. The capital was the primary target of the attack.

Ukraine’s Air Force recorded 166 aerial threats, including 41 missiles and 125 drones. Russia launched 10 Zircon hypersonic missiles, 25 Iskander-M ballistic or S-400 missiles, three Oniks cruise missiles, and three Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles.

The drone attack included Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and Parodiya-type decoys, as well as Banderol loitering munitions.

As of 8:30 a.m., Ukrainian air defenses had intercepted or suppressed 126 targets—17 Iskander-M, Zircon or S-400 missiles, one Kh-59/69 missile, and 108 drones. The Air Force recorded missile strikes at 23 locations and drone strikes at 10 locations, while debris from intercepted drones fell at 18 locations.

Ukraine’s Air Force initially warned at 1:21 a.m. that ballistic missiles had been launched from Russia’s Bryansk region and were moving through the Chernihiv region toward the capital. A series of powerful explosions was heard in Kyiv minutes later as successive waves of missiles approached the city.

The air raid alert in Kyiv ended at 3:14 a.m.

Damage was recorded in five districts of the capital, with residential buildings in the Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi districts suffering the most extensive destruction.

In the Solomianskyi district, a five-story residential building was damaged, while firefighters battled a blaze covering around 200 square meters at another nine-story apartment building. An office building and another non-residential structure also caught fire. Emergency crews rescued one person from the second floor of a damaged residential building.

In the Shevchenkivskyi district, a fire engulfed around 400 square meters of a three-story extension to an administrative building. More than 10 parked vehicles were damaged by fire, while windows were shattered in a nearby 25-story residential building. Firefighters also responded to blazes in non-residential buildings and an open area.

In the Dniprovskyi district, falling missile debris sparked a fire at a dormitory, while smoke was reported near a shopping center. A non-residential building caught fire in the Desnianskyi district. The blaze has since been extinguished.

In the Sviatoshynskyi district, a fire broke out on the roof of a private house. Emergency operations remained underway in the Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi districts as of the morning of July 19.

The attack also injured two people in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region. A woman suffered smoke inhalation and was released after receiving medical care, while a man with multiple shrapnel wounds was hospitalized. Warehouses in the region were also damaged and caught fire.

Earlier, on July 8, a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv killed one woman and injured two others, damaging a warehouse and several non-residential buildings across the capital.

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