'Putin has to be stopped' — 9 killed, dozens injured in Kyiv as Russia launches 2nd major attack on Ukraine in 48 hours
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Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
At least nine people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in another massive Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv overnight on Aug. 1. The attack gave residents only a few minutes' warning before impact, leaving many trapped beneath the rubble of their homes.
"We heard explosions almost immediately after the air raid alert went off. Then another one. And another," 38-year-old Lidiia Synovska told the Kyiv Independent outside her damaged apartment in the capital's Solomianskyi district.
"How were we supposed to get to a shelter? We didn't even have time to take cover."
Russia's use of ballistic missiles meant those living in the capital had little time to take cover from the second mass Russian attack in just 48 hours. Videos posted on social media appear to show some victims had been running toward shelters moments before they were struck.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said rescue operations were ongoing, with at least nine people confirmed dead and 28 others injured, including four children, adding a total of 105 people had been rescued from damaged buildings. Among those injured, 17 were hospitalized, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported.
Fires and damage to residential buildings and industrial facilities were reported in at least five districts of the city. Eighteen residential buildings, a school, the Lithuanian embassy and infrastructure facilities were damaged, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
In the Darnytskyi district alone, seven people were killed and another 14 were injured, including two children, the State Emergency Service reported.
"I want to ask the world, which is so afraid of Putin, not to be afraid of him. He has to be stopped. He is a monstrous person, and the society that supports him is deeply sick," Zhanna Maidanska, whose relatives lived in a partially destroyed building in the Solomianskyi district, told the Kyiv Independent.
"They have no right to bring only grief wherever they go. They create nothing. They build nothing. They don’t strive for good. They are a country rich in oil and gas — they could have prospered. Instead, they choose to spread death."
Maidanska's aunt and brother both survived the attack but are currently in hospital.
The latest assault began at approximately 1:33 a.m. local time, when a rapid succession of "very loud" explosions rattled the capital, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. As blasts shook the city, Ukraine's Air Force warned that multiple ballistic missiles were heading toward Kyiv.
Less than half hour later, Kyiv Independent journalists reported another round of explosions. More blasts followed at around 2:16 a.m. and 3:20 a.m.
Klitschko urged residents to take shelter, saying that Russian ballistic missiles were attacking the city.
Ukraine's Air Force said a total of 35 missiles — 27 of which were ballistic — and 185 Shahed-type drones were launched against Ukraine overnight, the vast majority targeting Kyiv. Only two missiles were intercepted, while 154 drones were shot down.
"Only one ballistic missile was shot down tonight simply because there are no missiles for the Patriots," Zelensky said.
"And it is precisely this shortage of interceptors against ballistics that only encourages Russia to launch such strikes against life."
'People are trapped'
Russia's attack struck residential and non-residential buildings, including apartment buildings, warehouses, a car wash, and a parking lot, local authorities said.
In some buildings, residents were trapped when their homes came under Russian missile fire.
Klitschko reported that missile debris struck a five-story building in the Solomianskyi district, causing a fire in the courtyard and making it difficult for residents to evacuate. "People are trapped," he said on Telegram.
The State Emergency Service later reported that the damaged building partially collapsed and caught fire.
A similar situation was reported at an attack site in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where the mayor said people were trapped after the building partially collapsed. Emergency services were heading to the scene of the attacks, Klitschko said.
A commercial building and several ambulances were set ablaze in the district, and the fire was later extinguished, the State Emergency Service said, adding that one person was injured in the district and another fire broke out "on the grounds of a film studio and was brought under control."
Klitschko reported fires in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, and Solomianskyi districts. Multiple residential buildings in the capital have been hit, Klitschko said.
The Darnytskyi district suffered the highest human cost in the overnight Russian attack on Ukraine's capital.
"Fires and structural damage were reported at an administrative building and a commercial building. At another location, vehicles caught fire and residential buildings were damaged. Seven people were killed, and 14 others were injured, including two children. Firefighters extinguished the blazes," the State Emergency Service reported.
Russia's relentless missile terror
Just outside Ukraine's capital, another three people were injured in Kyiv Oblast, the State Emergency Service reported.
Overnight on July 30, Russia hit multiple cities in the country, including far-western Lviv, with drones and missiles, killing at least eight people and injuring over 50 others.
The mass attack even triggered air raid alerts in eastern Poland after a Russian missile fell into a field in the Lublin region.
Within two days, swarms of missiles were again flying toward Kyiv.
Russia has targeted Ukraine's capital with ballistic missile barrages throughout spring and summer 2026. Moscow's latest tactic in its full-scale war entails overwhelming the country's strained air defenses, inflicting maximum damage on residential neighborhoods and cultural sites.
Attacks with ballistic missiles are more devastating and more deadly, since few weapons can shoot down Russia's high-speed Zircons and Iskanders. Patriot interceptor missiles remain the only effective defense — and Ukraine's supply has run dry.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would grant Ukraine a license to produce its own Patriot missiles, but he walked the offer back during a Cabinet meeting hours before Russia's latest ballistic missile strike hit Kyiv.
"We have not agreed to that," he said. "We're talking about it, but it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology."
