Russia launches a major aerial attack on Kyiv hours before high-level
talks on support for Ukraine
[July 21, 2025]
By EMMA BURROWS and ILLIA NOVIKOV
Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent
months, only hours before the U.K. and Germany are to chair a meeting to
discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for NATO allies to provide
Ukraine with weapons.
The attack killed two people and wounded 15, including a 12-year-old,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, a drone struck the entrance to a
subway station where people had taken cover. Videos posted on social
media showed the station platform engulfed by smoke, with dozens of
people inside. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said the station had to be
ventilated in what he called an “enhanced mode.”
The heaviest strikes hit Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, where a
kindergarten, supermarket and warehouse facilities caught fire.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot arrived in Kyiv on Monday and
visited some of the damage.
The hourslong drone and missile assault on Kyiv overnight into Monday
underscored the urgency of Ukraine’s need for further Western military
aid, especially in air defense, a week after Trump said deliveries would
arrive in Ukraine within days.
US defense chief and NATO leader will attend Ukraine meeting
The virtual meeting will be led by British Defense Secretary John Healey
and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius. Healey said U.S. Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte, as well as NATO’s
Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, will attend the
meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Moscow has intensified its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities, and
analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate as Russian drone
production expands.
In an shift of tone toward Russia, Trump last week gave Moscow a 50-day
deadline to agree to a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions.
At Monday’s meeting, Healey was expected to urge Ukraine’s Western
partners to launch a coincidental “50-day drive” to get Kyiv the weapons
it needs to fight Russia’s bigger army and force Russian President
Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, the U.K. government said in a
statement.
Trump's arms plan, announced a week ago, involves European nations
sending American weapons to Ukraine via NATO — either from existing
stockpiles or buying and donating new ones. The U.S. president indicated
discussions were partly focused on advanced Patriot air defense systems
and said a week ago that deliveries would begin “within days.”
But last week various senior officials suggested no transfers had yet
taken place.
NATO’s Grynkewich told The Associated Press on Thursday that
“preparations are underway” for weapons transfers to Ukraine while U.S.
Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said he couldn’t give a time frame.
Ukraine wants American-made Patriot missile systems
Germany has said it offered to finance two new Patriot systems for
Ukraine and raised the possibility of supplying systems it already owns
and having them replaced by the U.S.
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Firefighters work in a destroyed apartment building after a Russian
attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem
Lukatsky)
But delivery could take time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
suggested, because “they have to be transported, they have to be set
up; that is not a question of hours, it is a question of days,
perhaps weeks."
Other Patriot systems could come thanks to Switzerland, whose
defense ministry said Thursday it was informed by the U.S. Defense
Department that it will “reprioritize the delivery" of five
previously ordered systems to support Ukraine.
While Ukraine waits for Patriots, a senior NATO official said the
alliance is still coordinating the delivery of other military aid —
such as ammunition and artillery rounds — which includes aid from
the U.S. that was briefly paused. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that his officials have proposed a new round
of peace talks this week. Russian state media on Sunday reported
that no date has yet been set for the negotiations, but said that
Istanbul would likely remain the host city. The Kremlin spokesman
said Sunday that Russia is open to peace with Ukraine, but achieving
its goals remains a priority.
Ukraine also fires drones at Moscow
The overnight Russian barrage of Kyiv began shortly after midnight
and continued until around 6 a.m. Residents of the capital were kept
awake by machine-gun fire, buzzing drone engines and multiple loud
explosions.
It was the first major attack on Kyiv since Trump’s special envoy to
Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, arrived in the city last Monday. Russia
halted strikes on Kyiv during his visit.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its attack used drones and Kinzhal
hypersonic missiles. It said that the barrage successfully targeted
airfield infrastructure and Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 426 Shahed and decoy drones
overnight Monday, as well as 24 missiles of various types. It said
200 drones were intercepted with 203 more jammed or lost from
radars.
Four Ukrainian planes “unintentionally penetrated” Romanian airspace
for several minutes but did not pose a threat to national security
or civilian lives, Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said. It
said the brief incursion occurred as Ukraine took measures to move
military aircraft away from airfields in western Ukraine amid the
Russian bombardment.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued to deploy its domestically produced
long-range drones. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces
shot down 74 Ukrainian drones overnight, with almost a third of them
destroyed close to the Russian capital. Twenty-three drones were
shot down in the Moscow region, the ministry said, 15 of which were
intercepted over the city itself.
___
Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Stephen
McGrath in Bucharest, Romania contributed to this report.
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