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KYIV and Ukraine
Russian drones struck a shopping center in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday, killing 14 people and wounding scores of others, authorities said.The city is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who described the attack as a double-tap strike, in which an initial wave of drones hit the area, followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded.“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. Local administration head Oleksandr Vilkul put the death toll of 14, adding that 121 people were injured, including 22 children. He said the rescue operation was ongoing.Kryvyi Rih has been hit multiple times during the more than 4-year-old war, with one of the deadliest occurring in April 2025, when 20 people, including nine children, were killed.Friday’s attack came just 24 hours after Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime aerial attack that killed at least 16 people.
Russia exploits Ukraine’s shortage of defensive systemsMoscow’s forces have in recent months intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine’s chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.Large-scale Russian strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer. Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, and nine were killed in the city two days before that. The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.Earlier on Friday, a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed two women, aged 73 and 66, and wounded two others, said regional head Oleh Syniehubov.Ukraine shot down or suppressed 107 out of 135 drones launched by Russia overnight, according to a statement from Ukraine’s air force on Telegram.
