Ukraine launches attack with 400 drones against Russian territory in response to the offensive on Kyiv

BarcelonaKyiv launched an offensive this morning with more than 400 drones against several Russian regions, with a toll of five dead, about twenty injured, and several fires in residential and industrial facilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky justified the operation as a direct action "in response to Russian attacks against civilian infrastructure and against Ukrainian cities and communities".

Russian authorities have reported two deaths in the border region of Belgorod, one of the most affected by Ukrainian drones. In the Bryansk region, also bordering Ukraine, a firefighter died while working to extinguish a fire caused by the attack. Two more people died in the neighboring Kursk region.

Beyond the border territories, some of the drones attacked strategic areas of the Moscow region, causing a fire in a logistics center of the e-commerce company Wildberries in the city of Podolsk, about thirty kilometers south of the capital. The facilities of this company were already attacked on Saturday, in an action that left seven dead and dozens injured. Zelensky alleges that the Russian government uses Wildberries "to supply components authorized for the production of drones and navigation equipment". Also in Podolsk, a fire was registered in an oil depot, and in the neighboring city of Domodedovo, an attack injured six people.

Kyiv has intensified attacks against Russia in recent months, mainly through the use of drones. Russian authorities point out that it is one of the most significant attacks against the Moscow region, along with the one that took place on July 7, when 430 Ukrainian drones attacked this territory.

Five hours of terror in Kyiv

The Ukrainian attack takes place in a context of high tension between the two countries. Russia carried out an attack with 40 ballistic missiles against Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, one of the largest Russian offensives since the start of the war. The assault lasted five hours and left six dead, dozens injured, and several fires in the Ukrainian capital.

Local authorities and Ukraine's emergency service reported that Russian missiles also hit the cities of Kherson and Sumy, and that each of these attacks left at least one fatality. "Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and utmost priority, right now," said Zelensky, who continues to demand US-made Patriot anti-missile systems. At the last NATO summit in Ankara, President Donald Trump committed to authorizing Kyiv to manufacture these launchers.

Hours after the bombing of the Ukrainian capital, Russia attacked a merchant ship in the port of Odessa, leaving 10 dead, in the deadliest attack in weeks in the Black Sea. "While the world is still responding to Russia's brutal night-time attack on Kyiv, Moscow has continued its terror campaign all day long," stated the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sibyha. The attack adds to a succession of offensives that have once again placed the Black Sea as a critical point of the war, after the agreement that governed the area and had allowed the resumption of a large part of maritime transport has become a dead letter.

Since the beginning of July, Moscow has killed 28 people in the Odessa region: "We have been subjected to daily bombings since the beginning of July. There have been days when between 13 and 15 air raid alerts were announced in the region," denounced the regional governor, Oleh Kiper.

Without prospect of a diplomatic solution

Last Thursday, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, dismissed any possibility of resuming peace talks with Ukraine in the near future. Earlier this year, two rounds of talks were held in Abu Dhabi and one in Geneva under the mediation of the United States. Despite the attempts, negotiations stalled in February due to Washington's shift in geopolitical priorities following the start of the war between the United States and Israel with Iran.

Ukraine has long been calling for a ceasefire, which Russia has rejected on numerous occasions. Moscow says it is seeking a permanent agreement rather than a temporary truce, arguing that a ceasefire would give Ukraine time to regroup. According to the UN, June was one of the deadliest months for the civilian population in Ukraine, with at least 293 people killed, a figure surpassed only by the two months following the start of the war.