The "war of cities" plunges Ukraine into a more destructive and deadly phase for civilians

MoscowThe “war of cities” that some experts predicted a few months ago is now a reality. The conflict in Ukraine has entered a destructive phase in which each side tries to strike the other with all its might in the hope of breaking its will. While Vladimir Putin's missiles terrorize Kyiv and the major Ukrainian cities, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's drones set fire to refineries and warehouses in the interior of Russia. The consequence is that this summer is the bloodiest since the start of the invasion for civilians, with each month registering a higher number of casualties than the previous one.

Since the beginning of June, nearly 1,200 civilians have lost their lives on both sides of the contact line. It is estimated that 70% of the casualties are Ukrainian, while 30% are Russian. The UN, which has counted non-combatant deaths during the first six months of the year, indicates that in Ukraine they have increased by 37% compared to the same period in 2025, and in the case of Russia, the increase has been 121%.

These figures correspond to the evolution of the military strategies of each side. The Russian army has opted to leverage its supremacy in the use of missiles, especially ballistic ones, and is exploiting Kyiv's chronic shortage of air defenses. In a very unusual event, on Wednesday, Ukraine was unable to intercept any of the 28 Russian missiles aimed at its capital. And this happened just four days after another massive bombing raid. In total, 26 dead and around seventy injured in less than a week.

Citizens increasingly feel unsafe in the city. “For the first time, the lack of anti-ballistic defenses was felt so strongly that the house was shaking. I don't want to hide in a basement; I want to leave Kyiv,” lamented Tatiana, a resident of one of the areas most affected by the attacks. “This is an atrocity. I never imagined that something like this could happen in our country,” added Irina tearfully.

However, despite Zelensky's desperate calls for interceptor missiles from his allies and attempts to explore an air ceasefire, Ukraine neither feels pushed to renounce its red lines nor stops its long-range offensive campaign against Russia. Quite the contrary, in recent weeks it has intensified it. The Ukrainian army has continued to hit oil refining plants with the aim of maintaining pressure on the Russian fuel market, while successfully placing the logistics centers of the e-commerce company Wildberries in the bullseye.

The growth of Ukrainian capabilities and the diversification of targets – on Thursday it broke the record for drones launched in a single night, 605 – have also translated into an increase in Russian civilian casualties. This escalation has provoked three types of reactions among the population. The first, fear. “All limits are being crossed when ordinary people are attacked,” complained a teenager who lives near aburned Wildberries warehouse, in the Leningrad region. The second is to rally around the government and confirm the previous conviction that Ukraine is a criminal regime. “What do I feel? Pride for Russia,” commented another neighbor in front of the column of smoke. And the third reaction is resignation, like that of a driver who was driving close to the scene. “This is how we live, we didn't start this war,” she said.

The Kremlin conceals the attacks

The perception of daily attacks on large cities, such as Moscow, which is protected by four rings of anti-aircraft batteries and information censorship, is also very different. The authorities have prohibited the dissemination of images of the consequences of the bombings. In regions like Krasnodar or Volgograd, police have arrested young people who were recording warehouses on fire and forced them to record apology videos. Meanwhile, state media have practically completely hidden these types of incidents and have not shown any footage, just as last Saturday they also stopped broadcasting news about a "gas leak" in a luxury restaurant in Moscow when it became known that it had actually been an assassination attempt against a general.

Be that as it may, although the Kremlin tries to project a sense of normality, Putin has implicitly acknowledged the need to strengthen security within the country. On Wednesday, he created a new position in the military hierarchy: the head of the rear guard. This position, for which Colonel General Valeri Solodchuk, previously in charge of combat operations in Donetsk, has been appointed, will group all units intended to combat drones and the actions of Ukrainian secret services on Russian territory.

In any case, even for Putin, Ukrainian attacks are not sufficient argument to yield on his peace conditions. The Russian leader is determined to do "everything necessary" to occupy Donbas at any cost, as he reiterated last week. The suffering of civilians, as long as it does not lead to social unrest that is unlikely on either side, is still an acceptable price for both Russia and Ukraine.