Kyiv missile strike kills 10 at defence event after Raytheon talks

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jul 24, 2026 21:10 IST

A Russian ballistic missile strike on a site near Kyiv that was hosting a defence industry event killed at least 10 people and wounded nearly 100 others, Ukrainian government and industry officials said. The attack came a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met senior representatives of US defence company Raytheon in Kyiv to discuss Patriot air defence systems that Ukraine says it urgently needs.

At the same time, Ukraine said it had carried out more strikes inside Russia, including on a military plant and oil facility, while Russian officials reported deaths, injuries and a large overnight drone attack. Ukrainian forces also targeted logistical hubs of Wildberries, Russia's biggest online retailer, in several locations.

The strike near Kyiv hit the grounds of a privately operated military training site that was hosting an event, acting regional military administration head Ruslan Oliinyk said on Facebook, citing preliminary information. The site is about 20-30 kilometres from central Kyiv in the Bucha district. Emergency crews were sent to the area, where 27 homes and 44 vehicles were also damaged, he said.

The Ukrainian Defence Industry Council, which describes itself as the country's largest association of private defence manufacturers, said industry representatives were at the site when it was hit, though it did not immediately give further details. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko opened a war crimes investigation into the strike and a separate criminal case over possible negligence in organising the event. He said investigators would examine who approved the location, timing and format of the event, and whether adequate precautions were taken. The Ukrainian government imposed reporting restrictions on the attack.

Reporting the strike on social media, Zelenskyy said, "Missiles for Patriot systems are the number one priority." The meeting with Raytheon came less than three weeks after US President Donald Trump said Ukraine would be given a licence to produce Patriots. The pledge marked a shift in tone from Trump, who has recently spoken more positively about Zelenskyy. In another sign of changing attitudes in Washington, Laura Loomer, a close Trump ally, met Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday and criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over missile attacks on Ukraine after years of downplaying the invasion.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that he had held talks with a Raytheon delegation and that the company was ready to jointly produce Patriot interceptors with Ukraine. Raytheon did not immediately respond to an email asking whether any of its workers were at the event that was struck, and the company also made no immediate public comment on the Kyiv meeting. "Our teams - both at the government level and from the private sector - will stay in close touch to work it out," Zelenskyy said on social media. He has for several years pressed Western partners for more and faster Patriot deliveries, while Ukrainian officials and experts have cautioned that setting up production in Ukraine would probably take years.

Ukraine has also widened its campaign of attacks inside Russia. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian long-range weapons hit an oil facility nearly 1,350 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and a military plant in Russia's Kirov region that makes components for aircraft and missiles used in strikes on Ukrainian cities. Regional governor Alexander Sokolov said the attack on the plant killed six people and wounded 26 others. He did not identify the facility, though Astra news outlet said it was the Avitec plant, which makes air defence missiles and aircraft components. Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukrainian forces also targeted logistical hubs of Wildberries in St Petersburg, the neighbouring Leningrad region and Simferopol in illegally annexed Crimea, founder Tatyana Kim said on Friday. Russian media published photos and videos showing large plumes of smoke over St Petersburg. Ukraine had struck four other Wildberries warehouses across Russia in recent days, causing major fires. The attacks came as peace efforts have failed to produce results and as Ukraine continues to use domestically developed drone technology in front-line, medium-range and long-range operations.

The latest developments underline the widening reach of the war, with a deadly missile strike near Kyiv hitting a defence industry event even as Ukraine pushes for faster Patriot support and steps up attacks on Russian military, oil and logistics targets.

With PTI Inputs

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