WarJuly 19, 2026 1:52 am (Updated: July 19, 2026 2:02 am) • 2 min readIllustrative image: High-rise buildings and the Motherland Monument in Kyiv on May 19, 2025. (Eugen Kotenko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.Residential buildings have been damaged and set ablaze in Kyiv as a major Russian ballistic missile attack targeted Ukraine's capital overnight on July 19.Several explosions in a row were heard in Ukraine's capital at around 1:30 a.m. local time as air raid sirens sounded across central and eastern Ukraine.Another round of explosions was heard at around 1:47 a.m. and 1:54 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground.Ukraine's Air Force at 1:24 a.m. first reported that several ballistic missiles were headed for Kyiv.In the city's Desnyanskyi district, a commercial building was struck, and cars were set on fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported."In the Shevchenkivskyi district, a fire broke out in a multi-story residential building as a result of debris falling. Emergency services are en route to the scene," he said.Another residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district was set ablaze, Klitschko reported.Russia regularly conducts fatal strikes on civilian infrastructure in cities across Ukraine as it continues to wage its war.In an overnight attack on July 16, Russia slammed Ukraine's capital with ballistic missiles, killing at least two people and injuring six others.Several mass Russian attacks targeted Kyiv in recent weeks as Ukraine faces a shortage of Patriot air defense missiles.On July 8, four people were killed, and 15 others were injured after Russia launched drones and ballistic missiles against Kyiv for the third time within days.Overnight on July 6, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones toward Kyiv, killing at least 26 people and injuring dozens more, including seven children, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of a large-scale attack targeting the capital.Another 31 people were killed, and at least 102 were injured after Russian missiles and strike drones pummeled Kyiv overnight on July 2.