WarJuly 16, 2026 1:31 am • 3 min readPhoto for illustrative purposes. Sunrise in central Kyiv, Ukraine. (Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Russia slammed Ukraine's capital with ballistic missiles in an overnight attack on July 16. Explosions rocked Kyiv shortly before 1 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyv City Military Administration, said that Russia was attacking the city with ballistic missiles. Ukraine's Air Force reported that at least eight ballistic missiles were headed toward Kyiv. The blasts came as Ukrainians were still reeling from the news that only hours earlier, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had been dismissed from his position after less than a year in office. Aerial alerts also sounded in other parts of Ukraine, including regions far from the front line, such as Vinnytsia Oblast. At the same time, the Air Force warned of waves of Russian Shahed-type drones headed towards various cities.Explosions were reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv due to drone strikes as ballistic missiles hit Kyiv. Warehouses and non-residential buildings in the capital were hit in the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. Attacks are ongoing, and the full extent of damage and casualties is not yet clear. Throughout late spring and early summer, Russia has waged a campaign of aerial terror against Ukrainian cities, overwhelming the country's battered air defense systems with ballistic missile attacks. The primary target of this campaign has been Kyiv. In July alone, Russia has attacked Kyiv with ballstic missiles seven times. These include a devastating attack on July 2 that killed over 30 people and injured more than 100, as well as a mass strike on July 6 that killed at least 26 people.Russia's blitz on Kyiv exploits a fatal vulnerability in Ukraine's air defenses: Only U.S.-made Patriot systems can effectively shoot down ballistic missiles, and Ukraine has no Patriot interceptors left in its stockpiles. While Ukraine hopes to produce its own interceptors domestically by the end of the year with licenses from the U.S., that will not protect Kyiv residents from Russia's ballistic onslaught in the short term. In the midst of increasing missile attacks and diminishing defenses, Ukraine's government and military leadership have been shaken by another "reshuffle" led by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Most upsetting has been the dismissal of Fedorov, a popular figure with a track record of tangible achievements during his short term in office. Fedorov said that one of these achievements was implementing a review process after every mass attack, ultimately increasing the interception rate of Russian drones and missiles."During this time, the interception rate for drones rose from 83% to 91%, and for cruise missiles — from 47% to 87%," he wrote shortly after his dismissal. News FeedThursday, July 161:31 am Explosions rocked Kyiv shortly before 1 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyv City Military Administration, reported that Russia was attacking the city with ballistic missiles. 12:34 am The new measures, adopted based on proposals from Ukraine's National Bank, aim to stop Russia from using modern financial instruments, such as cryptocurrency, to circumvent sanctions and make international payments. Wednesday, July 1512:28 pm (Updated: July 15, 2026 11:48 pm) Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said the president had formally submitted his nomination for Serhii Koretskyi to be the next prime minister of Ukraine. 8:15 pm (Updated: July 15, 2026 11:05 pm) Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has been offered the role of Ukraine's next defense minister, a lawmaker from the governing Servant of the People party told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.10:43 pm10:35 pm The decision appears to have been made at the last minute, according to one official, who said reports of Vitalii Kim's expected appointment caught even his own team off guard.8:52 pm (Updated: July 15, 2026 10:01 pm)War7:58 pm "The election results will have no impact on this escalation, because the results will be known before the election," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.3:17 pm (Updated: July 15, 2026 7:44 pm) The U.S. has begun the process of granting Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missiles, moving the matter beyond political statements, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent.6:48 pm The 21st sanctions package was supposed to be agreed on on July 15, but two EU officials confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that Greece was refusing to compromise on its hardline position against proposals to stop EU countries trading LNG to third countries.2:51 pm (Updated: July 15, 2026 5:46 pm) The EU also announced a 10-billion-euro ($11 billion) funding plan for additional drones, missiles, and fighter aircraft for Ukraine.5:16 pm "There must be no Russian shadow on a banknote honoring the poet whom Russia killed," said Andriy Pyshnyy, governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.3:05 pm The strikes are part of Ukraine's ongoing effort to isolate occupied Crimea by disrupting the military and commercial infrastructure that sustains the peninsula.2:48 pm The meeting comes in a week when rumors and speculation that Fedorov could be replaced as defense minister have reached fever pitch.Show More