Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin’s forces launch ballistic missile and drone strikes on Kyiv as 17 killed

At least 17 people were killed and 42 others wounded as Russia pummeled Ukraine’s capital region with ballistic missiles and drones overnight, officials said. Ukraine’s emergency service said 14 people were dead and 27 wounded in the wider Kyiv region and reported fires at multiple locations in Brovary, Bucha and Fastiv districts. Russia reciprocated Ukraine’s attacks on its logistics hub Wildberries as large warehouse fires burned in the city of Brovary and the villages of Velyka Dymerka, Kvitneve and Peremoha. In Bucha district, crews battled a warehouse fire in the village of Chaiky after putting out a separate fire at a logistics facility in Sofiivska Borshchahivka. Air raid alerts were sounded for more than an hour across the capital of three million, where the military administration said seven sites were hit in an assault that began after midnight. It comes after a Russian soldier opened fire on his colleagues in Sevastopol, a city in Russian-controlled Crimea, killing one and injuring another, before killing three, according to Moscow-installed authorities. Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the soldier has been detained, and there is not yet any information on the motive behind the attack. Death toll in attacks on Kyiv rises to 17 - Zelensky The death toll of Russia’s strikes on Kyiv has risen to 17, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a post on social media. Another 44 were injured after Moscow launched 24 ballistic missiles, 4 Zircon/Oniks missiles, and another 115 drones at Ukraine overnight. “The main targets of the attack were warehouse facilities belonging to civilian businesses,” he said. “There were also strikes on infrastructure and a railway station. These facilities had nothing to do with the war – a brewing company, construction materials warehouses, and civilian logistics facilities.” Alex Croft5 August 2026 08:57Russia launches 28 missiles and 115 drones overnight Russian forces have attacked Ukraine with 28 missiles and 115 drones of overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Anti-ship missiles were launched from the Kursk and Rostov regions, with other types of missiles fire from Bryansk and Kursk, it said in an update on Facebook. "As of 08:30, [Ukrainian] air defence forces had destroyed or jammed 98 Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types of drones in the country's north, south and east,” the Air Force said. “Hits by missiles and 17 UAVs have been recorded at 26 locations and the fall of downed aerial assets (debris) at six locations." “The attack is ongoing, as several enemy drones are still in Ukrainian airspace. Please observe safety measures." Alex Croft5 August 2026 08:40 Alex Croft5 August 2026 08:21War of attrition hits new phase, says Zelensky’s aide Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s president on defence technology development, said the war of attrition has entered a new phase. “The enemy is attacking everything indiscriminately — retail warehouses, food storage facilities, logistics hubs, enterprises, building materials warehouses,” he said on Facebook. One of the companies that came under heavy fire overnight was the Epicentr, one of Ukraine’s largest retail and construction chains. It said in a statement on Facebook that “in minutes, Russian missiles destroyed what the company had built over decades.” One employee was killed and three others were wounded. Russia hit two of the company’s key logistics hubs. A direct hit also destroyed the production floor of its ceramic tile factory, forcing the company to halt manufacturing there and shift production abroad, with full recovery expected to take up to two years, the company said. Epicentr also voiced support for other Ukrainian businesses damaged in the attack, saying it understood “how many years of work, effort, faith and daily responsibility stand behind every enterprise.” Arpan Rai5 August 2026 08:01North Korea sends missile unit to Russia as Putin tries to exploit Ukraine weakness A North Korean missile unit has been sent to Russia, set to be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes against Ukraine. Russia has fired scores of North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine since late 2023, but the deployment of North Korean missile forces would be an expansion of the already extensive military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Andrii Cherniak of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said Russia planned to base the missile unit of around 90 North Korean personnel in the western Russian region of Voronezh, within its 112th Missile Brigade. Ukraine is very short of high-end air defences and Russia has tried to exploit this by using more ballistic missiles, which are particularly hard ⁠to shoot down. Arpan Rai5 August 2026 07:3814 killed as Russia strikes Kyiv region to avenge attacks on warehouses Russian strikes around Ukraine's capital of Kyiv killed fourteen people, injured 27 and damaged warehouses overnight, emergency service officials said on the Telegram messaging app. Air raid alerts lasted for more than an hour across the capital of 3 million, where the military administration said seven sites were pummelled in an assault that began after midnight. Authorities said one person died, 24 were injured and buildings damaged in several areas of Kyiv. “There may still be people under the rubble,” mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram ⁠after rescuers pulled two people from the ruins of a warehouse near ​the ⁠city centre that was destroyed in ‌the attack. “Search and rescue operations are proceeding." An ambulance driver was among the 24 injured, four of them still in critical condition, he ‌added. Arpan Rai5 August 2026 06:57US presses on with Ukraine Patriot missile talks, sources say, despite Trump's doubts The US is pressing ahead with talks on allowing Ukraine to make Patriot interceptor missiles, which Kyiv urgently wants to defend against Russian attacks, even after president Donald Trump cast doubt on such a deal, four sources familiar with the discussions said. The discussions include an option for Ukraine to build some components for final assembly elsewhere in Europe, the sources added. Kyiv ⁠has been seeking more PAC-3s, the newest type of Patriot missile and one of the few weapons capable of downing the ballistic missiles Russia has been launching into Ukraine in growing numbers. During a meeting with Zelenskiy in Ankara, Turkey, last month, Trump said the US would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture PAC-3s in a boost for Kyiv. But last week, Trump appeared to reverse course after what two of the sources described as a challenging meeting with Zelensky at the White House. He told reporters that the US had not agreed to letting Ukraine build Patriot missiles and the US must be “very careful about letting somebody build them.” Washington's envoy to Nato, Matthew Whitaker, is now leading the push to reach an agreement and traveled to Kyiv last month to discuss the issue and assess options with Ukrainian officials and weapons industry executives, the four sources said. “No order was given to halt the discussions,” one of the sources said, adding that talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others. Arpan Rai5 August 2026 06:41Russia says it hit logistic hubs in Kyiv and nearby region Russia has hit logistic hubs and supply centres in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv and the surrounding region, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram, claiming that those were used for military purposes. It has also hit three cargo vessels near the ‌Black Sea ​port of ‌Odesa, ⁠it said. Arpan Rai5 August 2026 06:10North Korean missile unit deploys in Russia for Ukraine war, Kyiv says A North Korean missile unit has begun deploying to western Russia and could be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes against Ukraine, an official at Ukraine's military intelligence agency said. Andrii Cherniak of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said Russia planned to base the missile unit of around 90 North Korean personnel in the western Russian region of Voronezh, within its 112th Missile Brigade. Pyongyang has already ⁠sent a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and personnel to ​Russia, ⁠but the configuration of the deployment and total number of missiles will be finalised at top-level talks next month, he said. Russia expects the deployment to involve 120 North Korean ballistic missiles and six launchers, he said. It is not clear what precise role ⁠the North Koreans would play in Russian missile operations. The deployment described by Cherniak appears to coincide with Russia last week firing its first two North Korean missiles at Ukraine since last August. Rob Lee, a ‌senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Philadelphia-based think tank, said the North Korean resources were a significant threat for Kyiv. Arpan Rai5 August 2026 06:00In photos: Smoke shrouds Kyiv as major attack rips through Ukraine capital Fire and smoke rises from a warehouse destroyed during massive Russian ballistic missile and drone strikes on the outskirts of Kyiv (AFP/Getty) Arpan Rai5 August 2026 05:47