Russian Strikes Kill Nine in Kyiv, Hit Poland
At least nine people were killed and 28 injured in a Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, days after a suspected Russian cruise missile landed inside NATO member Poland, officials said.
The Morning Brief Desk · August 1, 2026 · Based on reporting by BBC World
Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv on Saturday morning, killing at least nine people and injuring 28 others, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital came under ballistic missile attack, and AFP reported more than 10 explosions. Fires broke out across the city and some areas lost power.
The emergency services said at least seven people were killed in the Darnytskyi district, where another 14 were injured, including two children. In Solomyanskyi district, two people died and eight were injured, also including two children, when a five-story residential building was partially destroyed, officials said. Klitschko said a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed, trapping people inside. Lithuania's foreign ministry said a missile landed near its embassy in Kyiv, breaking windows and scattering debris in the compound; Reuters reported the embassy was damaged when two missiles landed nearby.
The strike came two days after an object crashed into a field near the village of Tarnawa Kolonia in eastern Poland, about 92 kilometers, or 57 miles, from the Ukrainian border, during a large-scale Russian attack on Lviv, Kyiv and areas near Kryvyi Rih. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the object was "in all probability" a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile and that it was armed. It left a crater roughly 10 meters, or 33 feet, wide. No casualties were reported in Poland.
The context
Moscow has stepped up ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said missile interceptors are urgently needed. Ukraine has run low on US-made Patriot interceptors, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of downing ballistic missiles, according to the BBC. Zelensky met President Donald Trump in Washington earlier in the week to press for a license allowing Ukraine to produce Patriots. Trump said Friday at Camp David that the US had not agreed to let Ukraine build the missiles but that talks were ongoing, calling such technology transfers "a big step" and saying recipients "can someday turn on you." His comments came weeks after he had offered Ukraine the right to produce them. Several Russian drones and one unarmed Russian missile have landed in Poland since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, but the armed missile near Tarnawa Kolonia is described as the most serious incursion into alliance territory since the war started.
Why it matters
The missile that landed in Poland struck the territory of a NATO member, raising questions about alliance obligations and European security beyond Ukraine's borders. Tusk said Poland was prepared to shoot the missile down had it continued its flight, and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, said the alliance would take all necessary measures to defend its territory. For Ukraine, the Kyiv strikes highlight a shrinking supply of Patriot interceptors just as Russia intensifies ballistic missile attacks on civilian areas, with the earlier wave killing at least eight people, including six members of one family near Kryvyi Rih.
What’s next
Poland's defense minister said about 20 objects were seen close to Polish airspace overnight during Thursday's attack and pyrotechnical analysis of the recovered fragments was underway. Tusk said he was in contact with European leaders, and NATO said it remained in close touch with Polish authorities. Talks between the US and Ukraine over a license to produce Patriot missiles continue, with no agreement announced. How Poland and NATO formally respond to the incursion remains an open question.
Sources
BBC World — Russian strikes on Kyiv kill at least nine, Ukraine officials say
The attack comes as Moscow escalates deadly ballistic missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Reuters — Lithuanian embassy in Kyiv damaged in Russian missile attack
Lithuania's embassy in Kyiv was damaged when two missiles landed nearby during a Russian attack.
BBC World — Missile that left crater deep inside Poland was probably Russian - Polish PM
The missile left a 10m-wide crater about 100km from the border with Ukraine, Polish PM says.
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