The Strike Zelenskyy Warned About Arrived Overnight: Russia launched another major missile and drone strike across Ukraine overnight into July 30, killing at least eight people and striking targets from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv. The strikes came only hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was preparing a massive new assault and urged Western allies to accelerate deliveries of Patriot interceptor missiles.
The attacks are yet another sign that Moscow is seeking to exploit Ukraine’s very well-documented Patriot interceptor shortage in hopes of deterring continued Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russian infrastructure.
M109 Artillery Creative Commons Photo.
While Ukrainian air defenses reportedly intercepted the majority of drones and cruise missiles, officials said that ballistic missiles again proved far more difficult to stop because of the interceptor shortage.
Zelenskyy Warned Of Imminent Attack
The strikes came less than a day after Zelenskyy publicly warned that Ukrainian intelligence had identified preparations for a major Russian attack on the country. Speaking during his nightly address on July 29, the Ukrainian president urged civilians to continue taking heed of air raid warnings and appealed directly to Ukraine’s partners for continued military assistance.
“First, we have intel indicating that Russia is preparing a new massive attack. Please pay attention to air raid alerts and stay safe. Our services act fast and are fully prepared. The Air Force and other defenders of our skies will be working around the clock, as always. Air defense and the continued need to help Ukraine protect its skies are our key priorities,” Zelenskyy said.
Putin and Russian Military Creative Commons Image
“I am grateful to every partner, every leader, and every country that is ready to help and that implements our arrangements in full. The PURL initiative must work. This concerns both the United States and Europe. We are pooling funds from our European partners and other friends to purchase missiles, including for Patriot systems. Sufficient supplies depend on America, and we hope that Ukraine will be heard,” he continued, once again calling for accelerated interceptor deliveries.
The warning came shortly after the Ukrainian president returned from the United States, where he said discussions with President Donald Trump had resulted in a political agreement for Ukraine to eventually manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles under license, although domestic production is expected to take a considerable amount of time before making a meaningful contribution to Ukrainian defenses.
Ballistic Missiles Pose A Problem
The overnight barrage posed exactly the problem Zelenskyy predicted: Ukraine could not reliably intercept ballistic missiles targeted at the country.
Zelenskyy confirmed in a statement on the morning of July 30 that Russia launched more than 70 missiles and around 280 drones against Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian president also confirmed that the strikes resulted in the deaths of parents and three children in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
“Last night, a Russian missile strike on Radushne in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed parents and three children. Two more children were pulled alive from under the rubble. It was an ordinary home, blown into smithereens by a ballistic missile… So far, eight people have been reported killed across the country. Dozens of people have been injured, and everyone is receiving the necessary medical care,” he said.
Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian combat aviation shot down a “significant number” of cruise missiles, and that mobile fire teams also managed to “take on cruise missiles.”
One of the deadliest overnight strikes hit Kryvyi Rih. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s Defense Council, said that an Iskander-M ballistic missile launched from Russia’s Voronezh region struck a family home, killing six people, including two children. Further fatalities were also reported in Kyiv and Poltava, and emergency crews in Lviv spent hours searching damaged apartment buildings for survivors after missile strikes injured dozens of civilians.
Russian Missile Enters NATO Airspace
The overnight attack also briefly spilled over into NATO territory.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that all indications suggest an object that crashed near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in eastern Poland was in fact a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. Of course, this is a breaking story.
The missile appears to have been fired as part of Moscow’s overnight assault on Ukraine. Reports described how the missile left a large crater, approximately 10 meters wide, in an uninhabited field roughly 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The Polish prime minister stressed that investigators were continuing to examine the debris before making a final determination about its origins.
Earlier that same morning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement published on X that a Russian missile had crossed into Polish airspace, while the Polish Armed Forces scrambled a fighter aircraft as a precaution during the attack. NATO also later confirmed that Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Alexus Grynkewich had spoken with Poland’s Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Wiesław Kukuła, after the incident.
Investigations appear to be continuing, and there is no immediate indication that NATO plans to respond militarily, but a statement did say the alliance would take “all necessary measures” to defend its territories.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, producing and editing analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
