Russia launches largest ballistic missile barrage on Kyiv since start of war

Russia launched its largest barrage of ballistic missiles at Kyiv since the start of the full-scale war in an hours-long assault early on Sunday, according to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/russia-launches-largest-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-since-start-of-war). Sybiha described the strike as "a brutal terrorist attack on the Ukrainian capital" and called for "devastating pressure on Moscow to end this terror."

The attacks killed one person and injured at least 15, according to local officials, and struck six districts of the capital, Ukraine's national police said (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/russia-launches-largest-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-since-start-of-war). The State Emergency Service reported fires at residential buildings, offices, industrial sites, a dormitory and vehicles, with rescue workers pulling four people from a burning home in the Sviatoshynskyi district and residents from a burning three-storey building in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 18 of 41 missiles launched by Russia overnight, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/russia-launches-largest-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-since-start-of-war). The bombardment underscored Ukraine's vulnerability to ballistic strikes amid a shortage of US-made Patriot interceptor missiles — its most effective defence against such weapons — with Russia having used ballistic missiles on at least seven occasions in July alone, the report said.

Russian drone strikes also hit areas beyond the capital, killing one person in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional official Oleksandr Ganzha, and killing a passenger train conductor in the Zaporizhia region, Ukraine's national railway company reported (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/russia-launches-largest-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-since-start-of-war). Separately, Ukraine said its forces struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea as part of efforts to disrupt fuel supplies to Russian-occupied Crimea.

US President Donald Trump said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot interceptor missiles domestically, potentially bolstering its air defences, though the details and timeline remain unclear, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/russia-launches-largest-ballistic-missile-attack-on-kyiv-since-start-of-war). The strikes came as domestic tensions in Ukraine remain high following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's removal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a move that has sparked street protests and dismay among Ukrainian soldiers.