Ukraine war latest: At least 17 killed after Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv and surrounding area
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Key developments on Aug. 5:
- Russian ballistic missile attack kills 17, injures dozens in Kyiv and surrounding area as rescue efforts continue
- Ukraine's air defense missile deliveries drop by two-thirds, new Russian tactic compounds problems for Kyiv
- Ukrainian drones reportedly strike Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Tula Oblast
- North Korea deploying ballistic missile unit to Russia to wage attacks on Ukraine, intelligence says
- Head of body recovery group Platsdarm killed, his wife says
A massive Russian ballistic missile and drone attack killed at least 17 people and injured dozens more in Ukraine's capital and Kyiv Oblast overnight as fires engulfed Kyiv and its suburbs, authorities reported on Aug. 5.
In Kyiv Oblast, 16 people were killed and 29 others injured, the State Emergency Service (DSNS) reported as rescue operations were still underway.
The town of Brovary, around 24 kilometers (15 miles) east of Kyiv, was particularly hard hit, not just by ballistic missiles, but also jet-powered Shahed-type drones.
Vitaliy Vitaliyovych Bihun, head of the Brovarsky District State Administration, said eight people had been killed at a train station in the village of Kvitneve.
In the capital itself, a 60-year-old woman was killed, and at least 16 others injured, DSNS added.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 24 ballistic and four hypersonic missiles during the attack, as well as 115 Shahed-type drones. None of the missiles were intercepted.
"The main target of the attack was the warehouses of civilian enterprises, there were also strikes on infrastructure, a railway station," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
"Ballistics interceptors are something that could have saved the lives of those who died today. It is very important that partners realize that delays in their delivery or unwillingness to transfer anti-ballistics leads to such terrible victims and destruction," he added.
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Ukraine's air defense missile deliveries drop by two-thirds, new Russian tactic compounds problems for Kyiv
Allied supplies of air defense missiles fell by two-thirds in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 5 following a meeting with senior military officials.
The statement came after a Russian attack on Aug. 5, during which Ukrainian forces failed to intercept any of the 24 ballistic missiles or four Zircon anti-ship missiles launched at the country, according to the Air Force's daily report.
Days earlier, Ukraine managed to shoot down only one of 27 ballistic missiles on Aug. 1, citing shortages of air defense missiles, particularly U.S.-made Patriots.
"Our partners do have the missiles," Zelensky said on X.
"It is important that the necessary political decisions on supplies and the acceleration of production processes are ultimately made – including decisions on localization in Ukraine," the president added.
While interceptor shortages remain a major concern, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent that they were not the decisive factor behind Ukrainian forces' failure to intercept missiles during the Aug. 5 attack.
According to the source, Russia conducted highly effective drone reconnaissance throughout the day before the strike and then launched a large number of ballistic missiles simultaneously, approaching from multiple directions at once. Intercepting all of them would have been virtually impossible even if Ukraine had possessed more interceptor missiles, the source added.
Ukrainian drones reportedly strike Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Tula Oblast
Ukrainian drones targeted a warehouse belonging to major Russian online retailer Wildberries in Russia's Tula Oblast overnight on Aug. 5, authorities reported.
A fire engulfed a Wildberries warehouse in the town of Aleksin in Russia's Tula Oblast after it was targeted by Ukrainian drones, according to Telegram channel Exilenova Plus.
Tula Oblast Governor Dmitry Milyaev confirmed that a Ukrainian drone struck a Wildberries facility in the region, along with other sites.
"According to preliminary information, damage was reported in two apartment buildings in the Venev district, as well as at two industrial facilities in Novomoskovsk and the Uzlovsky district. In addition, a drone crashed onto the territory of the Wildberries sorting center, resulting in a fire," he said.
Aleksin is located approximately 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Ukraine's border with Russia.
Ukrainian strikes were also reported in the city of Kazan in Russia's Tatarstan Republic, according to Exilenova Plus, but it remains unclear which sites may have been targeted.
North Korea deploying ballistic missile unit to Russia to wage attacks on Ukraine, intelligence says
A North Korean ballistic missile unit is taking up positions in Russia's Voronezh Oblast, Reuters reported on Aug. 5, citing Andrii Cherniak, spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence.
Moscow has deepened military cooperation with Pyongyang since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with ties expanding further after Russian forces began using North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. The first confirmed use of a North Korean missile by Russia came during an attack on Kharkiv on Jan. 2, 2024.
The unit, which is being deployed in the region bordering Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, is believed to have six launchers and 120 ballistic missiles. Russian forces have already received 40 of the missiles, Reuters reported.
Russian forces used North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles to strike the village of Radushne, southeast of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on July 30.
According to Cherniak, the strike marked Russia's first use of North Korean missiles since August 2025. Cherniak added that the missiles came from the latest shipment of 40 delivered by Pyongyang.
Head of body recovery group Platsdarm killed, his wife says
Oleksii Yukov, the head of the well-known body recovery group Platsdarm, which conducts dangerous repatriation missions in eastern Ukraine, has been killed, his wife Yevheniia Kaluhina said on Aug. 5.
"My husband was killed," Kaluhina wrote on Facebook, without providing further details. The details of his death had not been confirmed at the time of publication.
Yukov was fatally wounded during exhumation on the front line, according to Serhii Hnezdilov, an activist and a serviceman with the 56th Mechanized Brigade.
"His name is about the Ukrainian Donbas and respect for every person who was killed (whose body) he was able to return to their relatives," Hnezdilov said in a Facebook post.
Born and raised in Sloviansk in eastern Donetsk Oblast, Yukov founded Platsdarm (Bridgehead) in his hometown when Russia launched its war on eastern Ukraine in 2014. Platsdarm became the first volunteer team in Ukraine to systematically search for dead bodies during the Donbas war.
Despite the heightened threat in the current drone-dominated phase of the war, Yukov continued to head out on repatriation missions in dangerous places, including the Sloviansk and Izium areas. The 40-year-old had been repatriating bodies for 27 years, initially starting out recovering the remains of soldiers from World War II.
Since the outbreak of Russia's war against Ukraine, Yukov repatriated the bodies of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, as well as civilians, despite the significant risk involved.
"Oleksii Yukov will always be in our ranks," Volodymyr Rybalkin, the head of Sviatohirsk Military Administration, said in a Facebook post.
"My friend, you are incredible, only a few people can do what you did..."
Yukov told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 2 that he had repatriated over 10,000 bodies.
