During the night, the capital of Ukraine suffered a powerful strike. Russian occupiers launched a series of missile attacks on Kyiv, resulting in destruction, fires, and casualties. According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Head of the Kyiv City Military Administration Tymur Tkachenko, the situation in the city remains tense.
Sudden attack and consequences
The attack began at 03:39. It caught the city off guard: neither the Air Force Command, nor the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nor monitoring channels warned of the danger in advance. The air raid alarm sounded only a few minutes later, after the first three explosions.
The alarm lasted almost an hour and a half. So far, six people are known to be injured. Three of them were hospitalized, while the others received medical assistance on the spot. Damage to buildings and fire outbreaks are being recorded in various districts of Kyiv.
Problems with air defense and missile interception
Recently, the occupiers have significantly intensified strikes with ballistic and cruise missiles against the capital. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that one of the reasons for this is the acute shortage of missiles for air defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
Due to the lack of ammunition, Patriot systems have been switched from automatic to manual mode. This significantly reduces the effectiveness of defense. Thus, during the attack on July 8, Ukrainian air defense was unable to shoot down a single ballistic missile due to the lack of warheads.
The situation with cruise missiles looks different: they are intercepted in 90% of cases, and there are practically no problems with ammunition here.
International aid and prospects
Despite the difficult situation, positive signals are emerging from allies. US President Donald Trump stated that Washington will allow Ukraine to produce missiles for Patriot systems independently. According to him, this is a technologically complex task, but Ukraine will cope with it.
In addition, Canada has transferred a large package of air defense funds to Ukraine. Additional defense funds are expected to arrive in the near future, which should help strengthen the protection of the sky over Kyiv and other cities.
