Deadly Missile Attack on Kyiv Exploits Ukraine’s Depleted Air Defenses
Posted: 05 Aug 2026, 19:45
At least 17 people were killed, officials said, as the country runs desperately low on interceptor missiles that could fend off Russian bombardments.
Russia launched a blistering ballistic missile attack on Kyiv and its suburbs before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow takes advantage of Kyiv’s depleted air defenses.
The attack set off large blazes that filled the skies with smoke as rescue workers raced to find survivors in the rubble of a city that is now largely defenseless against ballistic missile strikes.
It was the third major attack on the capital in a week as Ukraine runs desperately low on interceptor missiles for its Patriot batteries, the only reliable defense against Russia’s most sophisticated missiles.
“Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement, putting the initial death toll at 17. “It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide antiballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”The shortage of interceptors has become a wider problem as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East drain military stockpiles around the world. Late last month, President Trump put aside plans to escalate attacks on Iran after advisers raised concerns about the dwindling American supplies of Patriot systems and other antimissile munitions.
Mr. Trump appeared to have provided Ukraine with an alternate path toward improving air defenses when he said last month that the United States would share the technology for producing Patriot missiles with Kyiv. But later he backed off that promise, saying, “We have not agreed to that.”
Ukraine is working to develop its own version of the Patriot system, but the country cannot currently make an air-defense system as effective.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that they had not intercepted any of the 24 ballistic missiles and four hypersonic missiles that Russia used in the attack on Wednesday. The air force added that, although it had shot down 98 drones, 17 strikes were recorded.
The missiles on Wednesday struck in a matter of minutes, leaving little time for civilians to seek shelter.
Serhii Mehei, 32, said that he had seen people running for shelter as the missiles struck the district where he lives in Kyiv.
“You only have about two to five minutes to get to shelter, and not everyone can get downstairs that quickly,” he said.
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souirce_. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/us/p ... nings.html
Russia launched a blistering ballistic missile attack on Kyiv and its suburbs before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow takes advantage of Kyiv’s depleted air defenses.
The attack set off large blazes that filled the skies with smoke as rescue workers raced to find survivors in the rubble of a city that is now largely defenseless against ballistic missile strikes.
It was the third major attack on the capital in a week as Ukraine runs desperately low on interceptor missiles for its Patriot batteries, the only reliable defense against Russia’s most sophisticated missiles.
“Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement, putting the initial death toll at 17. “It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide antiballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”The shortage of interceptors has become a wider problem as the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East drain military stockpiles around the world. Late last month, President Trump put aside plans to escalate attacks on Iran after advisers raised concerns about the dwindling American supplies of Patriot systems and other antimissile munitions.
Mr. Trump appeared to have provided Ukraine with an alternate path toward improving air defenses when he said last month that the United States would share the technology for producing Patriot missiles with Kyiv. But later he backed off that promise, saying, “We have not agreed to that.”
Ukraine is working to develop its own version of the Patriot system, but the country cannot currently make an air-defense system as effective.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that they had not intercepted any of the 24 ballistic missiles and four hypersonic missiles that Russia used in the attack on Wednesday. The air force added that, although it had shot down 98 drones, 17 strikes were recorded.
The missiles on Wednesday struck in a matter of minutes, leaving little time for civilians to seek shelter.
Serhii Mehei, 32, said that he had seen people running for shelter as the missiles struck the district where he lives in Kyiv.
“You only have about two to five minutes to get to shelter, and not everyone can get downstairs that quickly,” he said.
Image
souirce_. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/us/p ... nings.html