Kyiv missile attack revives focus on Patriot shortage as Trump offers licences

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jul 19, 2026 16:32 IST

Russia attacked Kyiv overnight with ballistic missiles and other weapons, killing one person and injuring 16, local authorities said. The attack again drew attention to Ukraine’s shortage of US-made Patriot air defence systems, which are seen as the most effective way to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.

US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriots, which could strengthen Kyiv’s ability to counter similar attacks. However, details of the move and the timeline for its implementation remain unclear.

The latest attack on Kyiv began at about 1:30 am and continued for several hours, with explosions heard across the city. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 41 missiles and 125 drones across Ukraine overnight. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of the missiles were aimed at the capital.

The strikes caused fires in five districts of Kyiv and damaged residential buildings, office and industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. In the Sviatoshynskyi district, rescuers pulled four people from a burning home. In the Shevchenkivskyi district, residents were rescued from a three-storey building that caught fire. One person was found dead. Firefighters also tackled blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the attack on Kyiv targeted sites linked to the Ukrainian military, including plants producing Flamingo drones and parts for Neptune guided missiles, as well as a postal terminal used to store dual-use goods and assemble drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.

Separately, a strike on two oil tankers at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal off Russia’s Black Sea coast halted oil loading at the site, the CPC said on Sunday. The attack on the ASIA and NISSOS tankers caused a fire on board the ASIA, which was later extinguished. The company did not say who was behind the strike and said there were no casualties or oil spills, while both tankers remained afloat.

Russia and Ukraine have sharply increased strikes on ships in the Black and Azov seas over the past week. Kyiv has for months targeted Russia’s oil industry, saying it directly supports Moscow’s war effort and helps fund it through export revenues. The CPC is a 1,510 km oil pipeline linking Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea oil fields to Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, from where the oil is shipped to global markets. The pipeline carries about 80 per cent of Kazakhstan’s crude exports, and the Russian government and Russian state oil companies together hold a 31 per cent stake in the enterprise.

The overnight attack on Kyiv left one person dead and 16 injured, while also underlining Ukraine’s need for stronger air defences. In a separate development, a strike on two tankers at the CPC terminal disrupted oil loading, adding to the recent rise in attacks linked to the wider conflict.

With PTI Inputs

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