Russian missile and drone attack hits Ukrainian capital Kyiv, killing 7
people and wounding 82
[July 31, 2025]
By SAMYA KULLAB
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with missiles and
drones overnight, killing at least seven people, including a 6-year-old
boy, and wounding 82 others, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.
Ten children, the youngest being a 5-month-old girl, were among the
injured, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. A
large part of a nine-story residential building collapsed after it was
struck, he said.
Rescue teams were at the scene searching for people trapped under the
rubble.
Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the
sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of
her home.
“It is just stress and shock that there is nothing left,” said
Zhabborova, a mother of a 5-month-old infant and a 5-year-old child.
Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones, and eight Iskander-K cruise
missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Ukrainian air defenses
intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles. Five
missiles and 21 drones struck targets.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it had shot
down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.
A drone attacked had sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia’s
Penza region, local Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said. He didn't immediately
give further details other than to say that there were no casualties.
In the Volgograd region, some trains were also halted after drone
wreckage fell on local railway infrastructure, state rail operator
Russian Railways said.
Russia's Defense Ministry also said that its forces took full control of
the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine’s eastern
Donetsk region.
Ukrainian officials, who typically don't confirm retreats, didn't
immediately comment.
Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for
nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack
other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine’s
eastern defenses.
A report on Thursday from Ukraine’s Army General Staff said there were
seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed
most of the town as being under Russian control.
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Women react outside a destroyed apartment building after a Russian
missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem
Lukatsky)
DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military
and analysts, showed early Thursday that neighborhoods to the south
and west of Chasiv Yar remained as so-called gray zones, or
uncontrolled by either side.
The attack targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv
regions, with Ukraine's capital being the primary target, President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s answer to our desire for
peace with America and Europe,” Zelenskyy said. “New demonstrative
killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible.”
He called on Ukraine’s allies to follow through on defense
commitments and pressure Moscow toward real negotiations.
Plumes of smoke emanating from a partially damaged building and
debris strewn on the ground. The force of the blast wave was
powerful enough to leave clothes hanging limply from trees.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko
said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and
Sviatoshynskyi districts. More than 100 buildings were damaged in
Kyiv, including homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities
and universities, he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s giving Russian
President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace
efforts to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive
sanctions and tariffs.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in U.S.-led
peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.
___
Vasilisa Stepanenko contributed to this report.
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