Russia fired ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv overnight, officials confirmed Wednesday — the third such strike on the city in fewer than seven days, as Ukraine continues to struggle with a critical lack of U.S.-made air defense interceptors.
The latest assault unfolded as the NATO summit was getting underway in Ankara, where U.S. President Donald Trump was scheduled to sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for face-to-face talks.
According to air force data, Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept more than 80% of the 169 drones deployed in the overnight strikes across the country. However, none of the five ballistic missiles Russia fired were brought down — a recurring problem for Ukraine’s defense capabilities.
Russia has intensified its air campaign against Ukraine in recent months, as its ground forces have seen their advances largely grind to a halt. Ukrainian strikes targeting Russian military supply lines and oil infrastructure have also triggered widespread fuel shortages inside Russia.
The human toll from Russian strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region has been severe this month alone — 60 people have lost their lives in July.
In the overnight attack on Kyiv, one woman was killed and two others were injured, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the strikes ignited fires in a storage facility and a non-residential structure in two separate districts on opposite sides of the Dnipro River.
Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was also targeted in missile strikes, with local officials saying private homes and a church sustained damage.
Zelenskiy has made repeated appeals for U.S.-made interceptors, which remain the only weapons in Ukraine’s military inventory capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. The missiles’ extreme speed and sharp downward flight path make them nearly impossible to intercept with other systems.
The Ukrainian president was expected to press the issue directly with Trump during their meeting at the Ankara summit on Wednesday.
Trump, who had spoken with both Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the lead-up to the summit, said Tuesday in Ankara that he believed the war could be “settled, hopefully soon.”
Putin, meanwhile, has vowed to continue the war despite the growing challenges facing Russian forces. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine surrender the remainder of the eastern Donetsk region — territory Russia has been unable to fully seize after more than four years of fighting.
