Russia and Ukraine Trade Deadly Blows With Missiles and Drones

 

Ukrainian strikes set fire to warehouses and other sites in Russia, and Russian bombing rocked Ukraine’s capital, as the two countries escalated an air campaign. By Marc Santora and Valerie Hopkins The New York Times, July 24, 2026 Updated 9:41 a.m. ET Russia targeted Ukraine with a barrage of missiles on Friday, killing at least 15 people, including 10 at the site of a military exhibition near the Ukrainian capital. Hours earlier, Ukraine struck sites in Russia including a missile factory, where six people were killed, and warehouses belonging to the country’s largest online retailer, Wildberries. Ukraine has hit the company’s storage sites repeatedly in recent days as it tries to damage the Russian economy and make ordinary Russians feel the effects of the war. The dueling bombardments, which left dozens of people injured in both countries, were the latest salvos in an air campaign that has escalated as the war’s front line remains mostly static. At least one Russian ballistic missile struck a sports complex on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, where a weapons exhibition was being held, according to Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said a rescue operation was underway. In addition to the 10 people who were reported killed, dozens were injured in the strike, the Ukrainian authorities said. “Efforts to determine exactly what happened and the fate of those affected are ongoing,” Mr. Zelensky said. It was not the first time Russia has struck a gathering related to defense and technology. In 2023, a Russian missile hit a theater in Chernihiv, in northern Ukraine, during a meeting of drone manufacturers. The attack killed seven people and injured hundreds, leading to calls for stricter security measures at events related to weapons development. Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, said on Friday that a criminal investigation into the organizers of the weapons exhibition near Kyiv had been launched. “War does not exempt anyone from responsibility for managerial decisions,” he said in a statement. “On the contrary, it requires the highest level of professionalism, caution and awareness of every step. In Kyiv, residents were alerted to an incoming barrage shortly before noon, with the familiar sound of air raid alerts blaring. Typically, there is only a matter of minutes between the sounding of an alarm and the arrival of a ballistic missile. In addition to the 10 people killed near Kyiv, five civilians were killed in the eastern city of Sloviansk by a Russian guided bomb, Mr. Zelensky said. The reported toll on civilians in Ukraine has recently been high, averaging around 170 people killed or injured per day in attacks across the country in the first week of July, according to the United Nations. Kyiv has been a prime target, with Russia launching several major ballistic missile attacks this summer. The missile attack in Kyiv on Friday came hours after Ukrainian drone and missile strikes were reported at Russian fuel facilities, a military production plant and commercial warehouses. Mr. Zelensky posted video of fires in the aftermath of several strikes, including one in Russia’s Kirov region, east of Moscow. That strike appeared to have been conducted with newly developed Flamingo missiles, which are made by Fire Point, a Ukrainian company, according to video and comments by the head of the company. The Ukrainian president said the facility in Kirov was a “key military enterprise” that supplied components for Russian aircraft and missile systems. The Russian authorities said at least six people were killed and 26 wounded in the strike. The company that runs the plant, Avitek, makes aircraft components, according to the Russian Engineering Union. Avitek is under sanctions by the United States, the European Union, Ukraine and other countries. Video Smoke billowing from one of the targeted Wildberries facilities. Reuters The attacks on Wildberries sites were the fourth round of such strikes since Saturday. Two warehouses used by the company in St. Petersburg and one in Novosaratovka, in the neighboring Leningrad region, were hit on Friday. A Wildberries warehouse in Simferopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, was also hit, as was a warehouse belonging to a poultry farm in the Leningrad region. Tatyana Kim, the chief executive of Wildberries, confirmed the strikes on the warehouses in St. Petersburg and Simferopol and said that staff had “managed to save some of the facilities and inventory.” Officials said three people were injured in the attack in Novosaratovka. Eight people were killed in attacks on Wildberries sites on Saturday and one person on Wednesday, the Russian authorities have said. Video Video posted on social media shows black smoke rising from a Wildberries facility as further strikes are heard in the background. Social media, via Reuters Liubov Sholudko and Nataliia Novosolova contributed reporting. Marc Santora has been reporting from Ukraine since the beginning of the war with Russia. He was previously based in London as an international news editor focused on breaking news events and earlier the bureau chief for East and Central Europe, based in Warsaw. He has also reported extensively from Iraq and Africa. Valerie Hopkins covers the war in Ukraine and how the conflict is changing Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States. She is based in Moscow. See more on: Russia-Ukraine War Add a comment Share full article0 Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine New Russian Targets for Ukraine: Kyiv is escalating its air war by striking commercial warehouses, trying to bring the conflict closer to home for ordinary Russians. 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