Russian strike on Kyiv kills at least 11, injures 64; Ukraine intercepts no ballistic missiles amid lack of Patriot missiles (updating)

At least 11 people were killed in Kyiv following a second night of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital in a week, the city’s top military administrator has said. Some 64 people were injured, including five children, Timur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, added. Three more people were killed in the wider Kyiv region, emergency officials and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Rescue efforts are continuing at more than 20 locations, according to Tkachenko. He also reported that residential high-rise buildings were hit in two districts.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko stated that Russian ballistic missiles hit several buildings across the city. According to Klitschko, fires had broken out in some apartment complexes.

The Darnytskyi and Podilskyi Districts of Kyiv were the hardest hit by direct strikes and falling debris from Russian munitions. Damage was also reported in the Holosiivskyi and Obolonskyi Districts. Specifically, in the Podilskyi District, apartments on the fifth through ninth floors of a single building were destroyed.

In the Darnytskyi District, a fire broke out, and apartments on the second through fifth floors of a 25-story building were destroyed. Additionally, falling debris sparked fires in apartments within a 30-story high-rise in a separate complex.

Rescuers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine have been trying to reach people trapped inside the ruins.

Warehouses and a garage workshop were also damaged, according to Klitschko.

Hours before the latest strikes, Zelenskyy had warned that Moscow was preparing a second “massive strike” on Kyiv following its attacks on Thursday that killed 31 people.

On the night of July 6, Ukrainian air defences did not intercept any of the 29 inbound ballistic missiles due to a critical shortage of Patriot system interceptors capable of downing ballistic targets, Air Force spokesperson Col. Yuriy Ihnat told the national joint 24/7 newscast.

“To shoot down ballistic missiles, you need the assets to do so. We have enough systems, but what we need is a steady supply of missiles. Russia is exploiting the fact that Ukraine – and indeed the world – is facing a serious shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles. That is why it is increasingly focusing on ballistic missile strikes,” Ihnat said.

According to Ihnat, Ukrainian intelligence reports had indicated it would involve a wide range of weapons, including a large number of ballistic missiles.

Ukraine accused Moscow of deliberately attacking civilian areas in that attack, which left at least 31 people dead. Ahead of the NATO meeting, Zelenskyy urged allies not to delay in sending air defence missiles to counter Russian ballistic missiles. As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep “vanquishing” residential buildings, he said. 

“Any delay with missiles for our air defence… means the loss of lives, and it encourages Russia to continue the war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

Zelensky has also appealed to the US to grant Ukraine licences to manufacture Patriot defence missiles.

The strikes come on the eve of the NATO summit in Türkiye, where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.