Kyiv death toll rises after deadly missile attack
The death toll from a missile and drone attack on Kyiv on the night of July 31 continues to rise.
Ukrainian authorities announced that rescuers have recovered another body from under the rubble of a residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district, bringing the total to 31 dead, including three children. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, and over 150 people were injured in the attack.
On the night of Thursday, August 1, the city of Kherson was hit by a new artillery barrage. In the strike on the Dniprovskyi district, a mother of three was killed, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the regional military administration.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces carried out an air attack on the village of Veselivka during the night. One man was killed, and a woman was injured. Three other people were wounded in a strike on the village of Malokaterynivka, stated the region's governor, Ivan Fedorov.
Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed that its air defense systems shot down 60 Ukrainian drones on the night of July 31 to August 1. These interceptions reportedly took place in several regions of the Russian Federation, including Belgorod, Rostov, Krasnodar, Voronezh, Lipetsk, and Tula, as well as over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, according to the BBC.
Kyiv declared August 1 a day of mourning following one of the most devastating Russian attacks in recent months. The attack, launched on the night of July 30-31, was a massive drone and missile assault by Russian forces that targeted over 27 locations in the city. The Sviatoshyn and Solomianka districts were the most affected, where a section of a nine-story apartment building was completely destroyed, along with several schools, kindergartens, commercial buildings, and a hospital. The drone debris caused fires and damaged gas networks.
The attack comes amid a tense context created by recent warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump. On July 29, in a message from the White House, Trump declared that Russia had ten days to stop the war against Ukraine, or new customs tariffs and sanctions would be imposed. He also mentioned additional measures against countries that continue to import oil and gas from Russia, such as China and India.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
