Russia hits Kyiv with missiles and drones as Patriot shortage worsens

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jul 19, 2026 18:36 IST

Russia attacked Kyiv overnight with ballistic missiles and drones, killing one person and injuring 16, local authorities said on Sunday, in an assault that again underlined Ukraine's shortage of US-made Patriot air defence systems. The attack came as Ukraine also reported strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and on tankers in the Black Sea, pointing to a wider escalation in attacks on both sides.

Ukraine said Russia launched 41 missiles and 125 drones across the country overnight, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying most of the missiles were aimed at the capital. Separately, a strike on two oil tankers at a key terminal off Russia's Black Sea coast halted oil loadings there, while Moscow said it had shot down 140 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The latest attack on Kyiv began at around 1.30 am and went on for several hours, with explosions heard across the city. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said the strikes caused fires in five districts and damaged residential buildings, office and industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles.

Rescuers pulled four people from a burning home in the Sviatoshynskyi district. In the Shevchenkivskyi district, they rushed to save residents from a three-storey building that caught fire. One person was found dead. Firefighters also attended blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts.

Viktoria Shejko, 32, said she was sheltering in the corridor of her apartment block with her seven children and husband when they heard the explosions. "When the alarm started, we checked that there were ballistics, then went into the corridor. Then it started exploding one missile after another," she said. She said the strain of repeated attacks is "very difficult psychologically" and added: "It used to be once a week or even more rarely, but now if not every day, then every other day."

Russia has in recent weeks increased its use of ballistic missiles as it seeks to choke off Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russia that have caused critical fuel shortages affecting both the military and civilians. US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot systems, which are the most effective means of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, but the details and timeline remain unclear and full production could take years. 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, and a postal terminal used for storing dual-use goods and assembling drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.

In a separate development, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium said a strike on the ASIA and NISSOS tankers at its terminal in the port of Novorossiysk halted oil loadings. A fire broke out aboard the ASIA and was later extinguished. The company did not say who was behind the attack. It said there were no casualties or oil spills, and that the tankers, sailing under the flags of Liberia and the Marshall Islands, remained afloat. The CPC pipeline stretches 940 miles, or 1,510 kilometres, linking Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea oil deposits with Novorossiysk, and accounts for about 80 per cent of Kazakhstan's crude exports. The Russian government and Russian state oil firms together hold a 31 per cent stake in the enterprise. Both Russia and Ukraine have sharply increased strikes on ships in the Black and Azov seas over the past week. Ukraine says it is targeting Russia's so-called shadow fleet, which transports oil in breach of international sanctions over the invasion.

Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukrainian units had struck more energy infrastructure inside Russia. He said Ukraine's Security Service hit three oil depots in the Stavropol region, while a separate army unit struck another fuel-related facility in the same region. He also said three Russian tankers were hit in the Black Sea. Earlier, Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said Ukrainian drone attacks had caused fires at "industrial facilities" in two places in the region, but said nobody was hurt. Russian news outlet Astra said three oil depots may be burning in Stavropol, citing its review of photos and videos sent by locals. Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence systems shot down 140 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions, annexed Crimea, and the Black and Azov seas overnight into Sunday, but did not say how many had been launched or how many reached their targets. In the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, local Governor Alexander Khinshtein said Ukrainian drones struck four apartment buildings, causing a fire and injuring one person.

The overnight strike on Kyiv left one person dead and 16 injured, while both sides also reported further attacks on oil, fuel and shipping targets, underlining the continued intensification of the war beyond the battlefield.

With PTI Inputs

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