Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles early on August 1, even as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed for Washington to grant licenses for Kyiv to produce its own Patriot air defense missiles amid apparent renewed reluctance by US President Donald Trump.Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said at least three people were killed in a Russian missile strike and that several people were trapped inside a partially collapsed building in the capital.“Explosions in the city. Kyiv under ballistic attack. Stay under cover!” Klitschko wrote on Telegram as the attacks struck.Reuters cited witnesses as saying more than a dozen explosions were heard throughout the city in the early morning hours.
Moscow has stepped up its missile attacks on the capital as Ukraine faces severe shortages of air defense assets capable of downing high-speed ballistic missiles.Zelenskyy's PleasZelenskyy has issued repeated calls for Western allies to send additional military aid and urged Washington to follow through on its vow to make licenses available for Ukraine to produce Patriot air defense systems.Zelenskyy on July 9 said Kyiv and Washington had reached agreement on licenses for production of PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, adding that parts for the missiles were expected to arrive in the next few days.However, Trump on July 31 downplayed earlier suggestions that Washington was ready to grant Kyiv a license to produce Patriot missiles itself.“These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about letting somebody build them," Trump told reporters at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, adding that his administration has "not agreed" to that yet."We're talking about it. But it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology," he said.Zelenskyy returned to Kyiv from Washington, where the two leaders had discussed the possibility during what was described as a "good" meeting at the White House.Writing on Telegram on July 31 after a phone call with US Vice President JD Vance, Zelenskyy said that "as Russia's air attacks on our country continue unabated, air defense -- specifically Patriot interceptors against ballistic missiles -- remains a top priority."'Enormous Tragedy'The latest attacks on Kyiv come after devastating Russian strikes elsewhere in Ukraine.Reporting from the village of Radushne in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on July 31, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service captured local residents mourning members of a family that had been almost entirely wiped out by a stunning Russian missile attack the previous day."This is an enormous tragedy for all of us, for our entire community," a neighbor of the family named Luchia said, as six of the family's 10 members were killed when the missile destroyed their home.
