Russia and Ukraine traded deadly drone and missile strikes that have killed at least 14 people on both sides of the war, as Kyiv and Moscow escalate long-range attacks far beyond the front line.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar, said that seven people, including three children, were killed in an attack on the Black Sea resort city of Gelendzhik on Monday.
FP-5 Missile From Ukraine Creative Commons Image
“What happened today was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure,” Kondratyev said in a post on Telegram.
Videos posted on social media show a drone strike a crowded beach full of people, followed by a loud explosion.
Massive Air Strikes By Each Side Exact A Heavy Toll
Despite each side claiming that they don’t target civilians, the number of civilians killed continues to rise.
Ukraine launched swarms of drones overnight into Sunday towards targets in multiple Russian regions, killing at least nine people. Russian air defense units claimed that they successfully shot down 635 drones.
Putin Back in 2025 Creative Commons Photo
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state-run TASS news agency that Ukraine was resorting to terrorism.
“Not long ago, NATO and the EU declared a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism,” Zakharova said.
“Now, they themselves have become part of international terrorist activity.”
Russian air strikes launched 35 missiles and 185 drones that killed five Ukrainians on Monday.
One person died as a Russian missile struck a residential building in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov.
The late Sunday evening attack on Zaporizhzhia killed a 71-year-old woman and wounded 31 people, including a 16-year-old girl, as the Russian attacks damaged 22 apartment buildings in four districts of the city, Fedorov said.
Another attack killed one person and set fire to a postal terminal on the outskirts of Kharkiv, in the northwest, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Russian air strikes also killed two people in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and one person in the southern Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia has killed tens of thousands of civilians by targeting them and civilian infrastructure since the opening days of the invasion.
Another Wildberries Warehouse Hit By Ukrainian Drone Strikes
Ukraine has launched an extensive campaign of drone strikes targeting warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest e-commerce retailer. Since mid-July 2026, the strikes have hit roughly 16 major logistics hubs.
Ukrainian intelligence and military officials state that Wildberries warehouses are being used to stockpile and distribute critical components for Russian military operations, specifically drone components, body armor, navigation equipment, controllers, and batteries.
Ukrainian drones attacked a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, around 800km (500 miles) from the Ukrainian battlefield frontline, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said.
He said the fires were put out and no one was injured in the attack.
At another Wildberries warehouse, in the village of Khryastovo, east of Moscow, Alexander Avdeyev, the regional governor of Vladimir, said more than 200 firefighters and 67 pieces of equipment had been deployed to fight the blaze on Monday at the huge warehouse, which measured 100,000 square meters (1.07 million square feet), equivalent to about 14 soccer fields.
Zelenskyy Seeks Starlink Access For Aiding Deep Strikes In Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an urgent plea for countries to send Ukraine more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.
Patriot air defense interceptors have proven to be very effective against Russian ballistic missiles, but they are in short supply due to the Iran war.
“The United States knows what we need. Europe knows what we need. Anti-ballistic missiles must protect people — not sit in stockpiles,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.
President Trump last week appeared to backtrack from his earlier commitment to give Ukraine a license to make Patriots that he made at the NATO Summit. He said Friday that he hasn’t made a final decision.
“I don’t think this would ever happen, but, you know, there’s people that, you give that technology, they can someday turn on you,” Trump said at Camp David on July 31.
“So we have to be very careful,” he added.
Zelenskyy asked President Trump, as an alternative, to help secure permission from Elon Musk to use the Starlink satellite system to guide drone and missile strikes inside Russian territory.
Trump has not committed to the request yet either.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
