Six killed in massive Russian drone, missile attack across Ukraine

Handout from Ukraine’s Emergency Service on July 12 after Russian strikes on Lviv (Handout) (Handout/Ukrainian State Emergency Service/AFP)

Russia fired more than 620 drones and long-range missiles overnight, killing at least six people in the latest wave of strikes, Ukraine said Saturday, calling for fresh sanctions on Moscow to halt its record barrages.

Moscow has stepped up aerial strikes over recent months and US-led ceasefire talks aimed at pausing the over three-year war have stalled.

“Twenty-six cruise missiles and 597 attack drones were launched, of which more than half were ‘Shaheds’,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, referring to Iranian-made drones.

The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 319 Shahed drones and 25 missiles, adding that one missile and about 20 drones hit “five locations”.

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Zelensky said the strikes had killed at least two people and wounded 20 in the southwestern Chernivtsi region, far from the front lines of the east and south.

Twelve people were wounded in Lviv, also in the west.

In the east, two people died in Dnipropetrovsk and three were wounded in Kharkiv, local authorities said.

Russia also “dropped two guided aerial bombs on the homes of civilians” in the northeastern Sumy region killing two, local prosecutor’s office said.

“As a result of the enemy attack, a 65-year-old man and his wife were killed. Fourteen residential buildings were destroyed and damaged,” it added.

The Russian defence ministry said it had targeted companies in Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk and a military aerodrome.

US special envoy Keith Kellogg is due on Monday to begin his latest visit to Ukraine as a Washington-led peace effort flounders.

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US President Donald Trump also said he would make a “major statement… on Russia” on Monday.

On Friday, the Kremlin restated its opposition to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv’s allies had a plan “ready to go… in the hours after a ceasefire”.

Trump called Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last week but said afterwards there had been no progress towards ending the war.

The Kremlin said Putin would not give up on Russia’s war goals but would nonetheless continue to take part in negotiations.

Moscow says its aim in Ukraine is to get rid of the “root causes” of the conflict and has demanded that Kyiv give up its NATO ambitions.

In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, a drone “hit the Belgorod Arena sports centre, where classes were taking place,” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Saturday, adding there were no casualties.

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He said a man died after a separate strike hit a house in the city of Shebekino.

– Weapons, sanctions –

Washington’s announcement earlier this month that it would pause some armament deliveries to Ukraine was a blow to Kyiv, which is reliant on Western military support.

On Saturday, Zelensky urged his Western allies to send “more than just signals” to stop the war launched by Russia in February 2022.

“The pace of Russian air strikes requires swift decisions and it can be curbed right now through sanctions,” he said on social media.

Zelensky specifically demanded penalties for those who “help Russia produce drones and profit from oil”.

Oil exports are important for the Russian economy especially in the face of existing Western sanctions.

Sanctions imposed on Russia — the world’s largest fertiliser producer — after the invasion spared its grain and fertiliser exports.

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But prices skyrocketed, fuelling fears of food insecurity.

The United Nations signed a deal with Russia in July 2022 to facilitate exports of food and fertiliser to limit global price increases.

But on Friday, it said the accord would not be renewed when it expires on July 22.

Russia has repeatedly complained the agreement does little to protect it from secondary sanction effects.

bur-mmp/yad

Russia launched another wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine overnight into Saturday (12 July), killing at least two people and injuring over a dozen, as Moscow continues to escalate its long-range bombing campaign.

According to Ukrainian authorities, two people died and 14 others were injured in the Bukovina area of the Chernivtsi region after four drones and one missile struck the area. According to an Associated Press report, regional governor Ruslan Zaparaniuk confirmed the deaths were caused by falling debris from one of the drones.

Elsewhere, six people were wounded in the Lviv region following a separate drone strike, while in Kharkiv, three civilians were injured as eight drones and two missiles hit the northeastern city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 597 drones, decoys, and 26 cruise missiles during the attack. Ukrainian defences successfully intercepted 319 drones and 25 cruise missiles, while 258 decoy drones were electronically jammed.

These latest strikes are part of a significant escalation in Russia’s aerial offensive. Earlier this week, Moscow launched more than 700 drones in a single night, mainly targeting western Ukraine, including Lutsk near the Polish border, an area vital for receiving foreign military aid.

Poland scrambled fighter jets in response to the attacks near its border, while tensions across the region remain high. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed to have downed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles overnight and Saturday as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that killed at least six people and wounded dozens, officials said.

Two people died and 26 were wounded when Russian forces overnight attacked the Bukovina area in the Chernivtsi region of southwestern Ukraine with four drones and a missile, regional Gov. Ruslan Zaparaniuk said Saturday. He said that the two died from falling drone debris.

Another drone attack in Ukraine’s western Lviv region wounded 12 people, regional Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said. Poland’s air force scrambled fighter jets in areas bordering Ukraine in response to the overnight attacks, which targeted again a region that is a crucial hub for receiving foreign military aid.

Three people alsos were wounded in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine when the city was hit by eight drones and two missiles, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Russia fired 597 drones and decoys, along with 26 cruise missiles, into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 319 drones and 25 cruise missiles were shot down and 258 decoy drones were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Two people were killed Saturday morning in a missile strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak. Two other people were killed Saturday in the Sumy region by a Russian guided bomb, local officials said.

Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Earlier this week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones, topping previous nightly barrages and targeting Lutsk near the border with Poland in western Ukraine.

Russia’s intensifying long-range attacks have coincided with a concerted effort to break through parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.

One person was wounded Saturday in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Belgorod region and another in the Kursk region, both of which border Ukraine, local officials said.

✕ Close Trump ‘flat-footed’ by Pentagon’s weapons halt to Kyiv and pledges more arms

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Russia has launched a new barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, killing at least six people.

Vladimir Putin’s forces launched 597 drones and 26 missiles targeting the west of the country on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The death toll from the barrage rose to six on Saturday, while more than 20 other people were injured in the strikes which hit cities including Lviv, Chernivtsi and Kharkiv.

The attack comes as Donald Trump is expected to send weapons to Kyiv.

The US president said he is set to make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday as he grows frustrated with the Mr Putin amid intensified attacks on Ukraine.

“We’re sending weapons to Nato, and Nato is paying for those weapons, 100 per cent,” Mr Trump told NBC News.

The US president has also issued an ominous warning to the Russian president after a maternity ward in Kharkiv was damaged in a drone strike. “You’ll be seeing things happen,” he said.

A first responder in front of a building struck in a Russian attack on Bukovina in western Ukraine, July 12, 2025

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky Meets With US Senators About Russia Sanctions

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1608 GMT:

In a historic procedure, Ukrainian doctors carried out organ transplants from a deceased 4-year-old girl to save the lives of three critically ill children.

The Okhmatdyt Hospital, Ukraine’s largest for children, used the girl’s heart, liver, and kidneys with her parents’ consent.

“This is a story about humanity, the incredible power of a parent’s decision, and the chance for life even in the most difficult times,” the hospital said in a statement.

The operations, lasting more than 13 hours, were carried out under the threat of Russian drone and missile strikes. A 16-year-old girl with Wilson’s disease received the liver transplant. A 14-year-old boy who had been on dialysis for more than seven months received the kidneys. A 12-year-old girl was given the heart.

The procedure was the first in the hospital’s history.

UPDATE 1023 GMT:

At least 13 civilians have been killed and 46 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the last 24 hours.

Air defenses downed 319 of 597 drones, and 258 were lost to electronic counter-measures. Of 26 missiles fired by Russia, 25 were intercepted.

Four civilians were killed in the Donetsk region in the east, and three in the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-centeral Ukraine.

In Chernivtsi city in the west, two civilians were murdered. Fourteen were injured, one critically and three seriously.

In the Kherson region in the south, two people were slain and eight injured by attacks on more than 30 towns and villages. In the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, two civilians were murdered.

Casualties were also reported in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Lviv regions.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

The pace of Russia’s aerial strikes demands swift decisions – and it can be curbed through sanctions right now…. More air defense systems are needed, along with investments in interceptor drones, which are already delivering good results. This war can only be stopped through strength. We expect not just signals from our partners, but actions that will save lives.

Last night, Russia’s strikes extended from the Kharkiv and Sumy regions to the Lviv region and Bukovyna. 26 cruise missiles and 597 attack drones were launched, more than half of them were “shaheds.” More than 20 missiles and the vast majority of drones were destroyed. I thank… pic.twitter.com/V7tI7IaHle — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 12, 2025

UPDATE 1016 GMT:

Ukraine’s military will begin receiving hundreds of Ukrainian-constructed, long-range weapon systems by the end of July under a German-financed agreement, says German Maj. Gen. Christian Freuding.

The weapons will be supplied in a “high triple-digit quantity,” said Freuding, the head of the Ukraine task force at the German Defense Ministry.

Berlin agreed in late May, with Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, to fund Ukrainian arms producers.

“We need weapons systems that can reach far into the depth of Russian territory — to hit depots, command centers, airfields and aircraft,” Freuding said. He did not specify what kind of long-range systems Germany is financing.

UPDATE 0710 GMT:

Sources say Col. Ivan Voronych, shot dead in Kyiv on Thursday, oversaw a Ukrainian special operations unit carrying out assassinations in Russian-occupied territory.

The sources said Voronych commanded the Fifth Directorate, which receives technical support from the CIA. Among its operations were the killing in 2016 of Arsen Pavlov, better known as “Motorola,” a prominent commander of Russian proxy units in eastern Ukraine.

Ivan Stupak, a former Ukrainian intelligence operative, said, “We remember Givi, Motorola, various other low-ranking ‘Russian Spring activists’. many were burned, shot, killed. These are the kinds of things this unit dealt with, the unit where the deceased [Voronych] worked.”

UPDATE 0702 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on a visit to North Korea, has hailed Pyongyang’s “unequivocal support” for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

After talks with North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Son Hee, Lavrov praised Pyongyang’s assistance in the regaining of the Kursk region in western Russia, part of which was taken by Ukraine from August 2024.

North Korea deployed around 12,000 troops, and has also provided missiles and hundreds of thousands of munition rounds for Russia’s assault.

Intelligence agencies in Ukraine and South Korea expect North Korea to send another 25,000 to 30,000 troops in the coming months. They assess a “high probability” that North Korean troops will participate in operations inside Ukraine.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

Russia’s last independent election monitor, Golos, is closing after the imprisonment of its co-chair.

The remaining leadership decided to shut rather than subject affiliates to further criminal charges. The organization’s co-chair, Grigory Melkonyants, has been condemned to five years in a prison colony.

For 25 years, Golos trained election observers and provided inforamtion to journalists, activists, and academics. Its web platform invited citizens and civil society activists to report electoral violations they had personally experienced or witnessed.

Citizens were encouraged to submit supporting documentation: emails, screenshots of WhatsApp and text messages, photos of illegal campaign materials, and leaked documents from state and private institutions. These reports were then reviewed and displayed on a national map, Karta Narusheny (“Map of Violations”), run by Gazeta.ru.

UPDATE 0646 GMT:

The commander of an elite Russian marine unit was slain last week in a Ukrainian missile strike that also killed a deputy chief of the Russian Navy, reports the independent Russian news channel Astra.

Col. Sergei Ilyin led the Pacific Fleet’s 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade and died “during the special military operation” in Ukraine, according to a post by the Urmarsky district administration in the Chuvashia Republic.

The post, later deleted, did not specify when Ilyin perished. However, Astra shared a photo of a billboard, apparently at a funeral, showing his dates of birth and death as November 26, 1985 and July 2, 2025.

Russian Deputy Commander Mikhail Gudkov were killed on July 2 by the Ukrainian missile which hit a command post in the Kursk region in western Russia.

UPDATE 0638 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has posted about Russia’s overnight missile and drone attacks:

Russia continues to escalate its terror, launching another barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles, damaging residential areas, killing and injuring civilians. Western cities of Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Lutsk suffered a particularly horrible attack, other regions were also hit.… pic.twitter.com/hLJFe03xqL — Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) July 12, 2025

UPDATE 0623 GMT:

Germany is providing Ukraine with a grant of €40.5 million ($47.4 million) to support small and medium businesses.

The Ukrainian Finance Ministry said the funds will be sent by Germany’s state development bank KfW and distributed through Ukraine’s Entrepreneurship Development Fund. The loans and grants will primarily support businesses in “de-occupied and war-affected territories,” with average distribution of €250,000.

Norway is allocating 25 million Norwegian krone ($2.5 million) to support Ukraine’s cyber-security defenses.

Oslo announced its accession to the Tallinn Mechanism to help protect Ukraine against cyber-threats.

Ukraine and 10 partners established the mechanism in December 2023.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: At least two civilians have been murdered and 18 injured by Russia’s overnight missile and drone strikes far behind the frontline in Ukraine.

For the third night in a row, Russia targeted the west of the country, including the cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi between 3 a.m. and 4:45 a.m.

In Chernivtsi, a 26-year-old woman and 43-year-old man were killed by falling debris. Another 14 people were injured, including four in serious condition.

Several residential buildings, shops, administrative buildings, and vehicles were damaged.

In Lviv city, four people were wounded, one of them requiring hospital treatment.

A fire was set on the roof of a “non-residential” building in the Zaliznychnyi district. Several residential and industrial buildings, vehicles, and a kindergarten were struck.

In Lutsk, a home and vehicle were damaged.

Poland scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace during the attack.