A Russian missile-and-drone barrage killed 17 people and injured at least 44 in Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight into Wednesday, August 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and regional officials said. The assault lasted about two hours, struck the capital and nearby communities, and became one of the deadliest attacks on the area this summer.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched 24 ballistic missiles, four additional missiles identified as Zircon or Onik weapons, and 115 drones, many of them jet-powered. Ukraine reported intercepting or suppressing drones but said its air defences failed to stop the incoming missiles, highlighting a shortage of ammunition for US-made Patriot systems, Ukraine's principal defence against ballistic weapons.
Eight people died at a railway station in the Brovary district east of Kyiv, according to local authorities cited by the Associated Press. Other targets included a brewery, a construction-material warehouse, a postal sorting centre and food or retail logistics facilities. Firefighters fought large warehouse blazes, while emergency crews searched damaged sites and treated casualties.
Zelenskyy said the locations had no connection to combat operations and argued that faster deliveries of ballistic-missile interceptors could have saved lives. Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal operator, said a cluster munition destroyed one of its Kyiv sorting centres. Retail chain Epicentr reported that one employee died and three suffered injuries when its logistics complex came under fire.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it attacked transport, logistics and distribution centres linked to Ukrainian military activity, including facilities that it alleged stored dual-use goods or drone components. Those assertions could not be independently reconciled with Ukraine's description of civilian sites. Moscow also claimed strikes on three cargo ships south of Odesa, an account on which Ukrainian officials offered no immediate comment.
Kyiv regional authorities designated Thursday as a day of mourning. The attack adds pressure to Ukraine's repeated appeals for Patriot interceptors as large Russian barrages continue and US-led peace efforts remain stalled. Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded long-range drone strikes inside Russia, including an overnight attack on a warehouse in the Tula region, as both sides continue targeting logistics and industrial infrastructure.
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