Russia, Ukraine Exchange Massive Strikes, Escalating Conflict

Russia launched one of its largest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, while Ukrainian drones carried out their deadliest strikes inside Russia in more than two years — stoking fears of wider escalation and further strains on oil supplies.

Russia has carried out a wave of ballistic missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, Ukrainian officials said Sunday. At least one person was killed, and 15 were wounded in Kyiv, where residential buildings, warehouses, a supermarket, and a dormitory were damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the raid on Kyiv was "one of the most massive ballistic attacks" since Russia launched a full-blown war against the country in 2022.

Separately, three more people were reportedly killed during Russian strikes in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Sunday, as Ukraine's Air Force said it intercepted 18 missiles and 108 of 126 drones, with the salvo including 25 ballistic missiles.

The missile barrage came after Ukrainian drone attacks on Saturday destroyed two warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, and an oil depot, reportedly killing at least nine people and injuring more than 80, the deadliest Ukrainian strikes inside Russia in over two years.

Russia's Defense Ministry said 379 drones were downed across 19 regions. Zelenskyy described the facilities targeted as used by Russia to supply "sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment."

The tit-for-tat strikes mark a sharp escalation in a campaign that has increasingly targeted Russia's energy complex. Ukrainian naval drones hit two large Russia-linked crude tankers, the Louise 1 and Banda, in the Black Sea last week — a waterway that accounts for more than 20% of Russia's seaborne crude flows.

Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent published on Saturday that the defense alliance is prepared for any Russian move against its eastern flank. Baltic states, such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland have stepped up defenses of critical infrastructure and transport systems as warnings mount of potential Russian attacks.

Moscow "would lose a lot, much more than what they could gain, just by touching Poland or the Baltic states. And we are ready," the alliance's military chief told the Ukrainian news outlet on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7.

Cavo Dragone said that the alliance's first objective remains a ceasefire and negotiations toward "a long-lasting peace for Ukraine," while acknowledging allied stockpiles are being drawn down and pointing to joint ventures with Ukraine's defense industry as a way to sustain support.