Ukraine recorded its highest number of civilian casualties in four years during July, with children among those killed and wounded, according to Ukrainian officials. The nation reported at least 377 civilians killed and approximately 2,129 injured last month, marking the deadliest period since April 2022.
Recent Russian attacks have targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure. On Sunday, a drone strike in Kharkiv killed one person and wounded nine others, including two children. In Chernihiv, an adult and a 10-year-old child died after a drone hit a supermarket.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described these assaults as "deliberate Russian terror that has no military justification." The intensified attacks follow what Kyiv describes as increasingly successful Ukrainian cross-border operations. Russia has reportedly fired over 34,000 drones, guided aerial bombs, and ballistic missiles in the past week.
Kyiv has highlighted a critical shortage of interceptor missiles for its air defense systems, hindering its ability to counter Russian aerial assaults. Sunday's attacks involved at least 8 missiles and 136 drones launched across multiple Ukrainian regions, including Kyiv, Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv.
"We must undercut Russia’s gamble on ballistic terror. That is why it is so important that deliveries of anti-ballistic defense packages arrive on time," Zelensky stated, emphasizing that "every interceptor missile right now is literally helping save lives."
In response to these needs, Zelensky has been pursuing an agreement with former U.S. President Donald Trump to secure a license for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors. He indicated on Thursday that the aerospace and defense company Raytheon has expressed willingness to assist in producing the missiles once such a license is granted.